Jared Imprints
by Ha-LoCo
Summary: What happens when Jared sees and imprints on Kim his first day back at school? How will she react? What's going on in Kim's life and will Jared be able to save her? A Jared imprints story. Read and Review. Complete.
1. First Sight

Chapter 1

"Yes" Paul yelled, punching the air with his fist. Me, and Sam both groaned. The three of us were gathered around an ancient television in Sam's pokey front room. We had placed bets on the wrestlers, who had just finished pulverising each other.

Me, and Sam knew it was fixed, Paul on the other hand was certain his wrestler would win. We were sure he would loose. It seemed my good luck had just changed.

We grimaced as we handed over our money. Paul grinned and called us both sore losers. Sam laughed as he said " Yeah we're really sore losers". He rolled his eyes at me. " We've reacted worse then you did, when you lost the bet on that football game and put your foot through the door". Paul gritted his teeth and glared at Sam. I sensed an argument and, knowing Paul, it could lead to a brawl.

Like the peace maker I am, said " alright guys, cool it, Sam could we get that lift to school?"

"Sure, hop in".

Paul still annoyed at the jibe, "I have my own car, I can get there myself." And he ran out of the house to his beat up hatchback, parked outside.

Me, and Sam exchanged grins. Sam climbed in the front seat and I sprawled out in the back with my rucksack. I closed my eyes and sighed. Today would be my first day at school since I had changed.

I had changed. I had changed big time. I had been growing at a very fast rate for a while. Not just upwards, I was broader too. And stronger.

I had changed. From a boy, into a man. From a normal human, into a werewolf. Yup, I really had changed. I had to be more careful now. Ignore every jibe. Never get angry. I wondered how Paul managed. Grades and expectations didn't matter. I had to be careful to never, ever hurt anyone.

Sam swore in the front. I had been too wrapped up in my own thoughts to have noticed when the car wouldn't start. Sam turned the key again. The car gave a wheeze and sounded like it was ill.

"Sorry Jared, looks like I can't take you in". I closed my eyes again. "S, alright man. I'll run".

Sam smiled. "Thanks Jared, I knew you'd understand". That's right. I could never hold a grudge and sometimes that stunk. Sam got out of the car first and went back towards his house. Emily walked out the front door. When she saw Sam her face broke into a huge smile. We could see all the beauty in Emily, even with her flaws. Sam however, saw no flaws. To Sam Emily was everything.

They ran to each other and locked in an embrace. I looked away. Their moment was private, not meant to be shared. It always felt like a violation when I heard these memories in Sam's thoughts. I got out of the car. I was pretty sure I was going to be late even though I was a fast runner.

When I was halfway there it started to rain. I wasn't surprised, just annoyed. Being naturally very warm, I wasn't cold, just wet. Great, I was going to be late my first day back. Wet and late. This was so not my day.

I ran into the main building a few minuets before the bell rang, I leaned against the wall, panting heavily. I was getting some really strange looks off people. Mostly dry people, like people who had their own cars. James, a guy in my English class, came up to say hi.

"Jared, you're back". This kid was really into stating the obvious. He was one of the reasons that I was ill a lot whenever we had to discuss things with each other in the lesson.

"You've been gone a week", see what I mean about the obvious. " You've come back just in time for a test, so good luck with that."

"Thanks James". He gave me two thumbs up and walked off. I really couldn't tell if he was annoying deliberately, or if it was an accident.

I wiped rainwater out of my eyes, and noticed Paul walk up to lean against the wall next to me, smirking.

"Dude, if you'd asked I would have given you a ride". I shot a glare at him, I'm not sure if he noticed.

"Jared, is she in your first class?" I looked in the direction he was staring at and saw Macy Grey, a girl in my first lesson, Biology.

I turned back to Paul and nodded "Why?"

"Make sure she gets my number". He winked at her as she passed, and she fluttered her eyelashes.

"See? See what she did Jared? She likes me". I rolled my eyes at him. I was pretty sure it was me she was flirting with.

"Paul. I'm not too sure if she really does like you all that much".

I was trying to be kind. Girls didn't really like Paul. He was stronger and taller then most other guys, and I guess he was OK looking, but his reputation for being jealous, and unable to recognise "back off" signs, was well known.

Paul wasn't listening to me and was busy pulling a scrap of paper out of his rucksack, and scribbling his number on it. I kicked the wall impatiently as the bell rang.

Paul was taking a long time, struggling to make his writing legible.

He threw it at me. " Make sure she gets it".

I mumbled under my breath about how stubborn and pushy Paul was. Honestly, Macy was cute, but not that cute.

I walked into my classroom and glanced around. I could tell immediately that Mr Hanson, my teacher, was in a bad mood.

"Lateness is not what I expect from students in my class". He snapped. He was standing with his arms spread out, with posture that was apparently meant to appear threatening. I smirked down at the man, whose head barely reached my shoulder.

Mr Hanson's eyes narrowed and he looked like he was considering giving me a detention, but then his eyes flashed towards my strong, broad shoulders and up again to my confident smirk and short hair cut.

I knew who looked the most threatening out of the two of us. He moved to the side to let me pass and reach my desk at the front.

I smirked again before walking in the opposite direction to what he expected. I tapped Macy on the shoulder. She looked up and fluttered her eyelashes. I felt my smile grow.

"Hi there". I was whispering in her ear, the entire class's eyes were on us. I didn't normally flirt, I just wanted to have some fun. Hey, can you blame me? You try running around for a week with Sam and Paul's voices going round your head.

I remember how I thought I was going mad. Thought I was dying. Felt myself explode out of my skin. Can you blame me for wanting a little bit of female attention?

"You know my friend Paul?" I pulled back to watch her face. "He asked me to give you his number". I slapped the scrap of paper down on the table in front of her. She seemed to struggle with something for a moment.

"Wait you're not asking me out?"

"Nope, sorry" I heard sniggers coming from around the room.

"Please return to your seat" said an angry voice.

"Yes sir" Although it wasn't how I wanted it to sound, the words came out mocking.

I turned around and looked over at the girl who was sitting next to my empty seat. The girl with a slight smile playing on her lips.

**Ok, this is my first fanfic so please be nice, Review!! And I promise the story will get better!**


	2. Feelings

As soon as my eyes met hers I felt like I had exploded. Or imploded. I felt my jaw drop as my eyes took in her appearance. Her perfectly curved lips. Her bright, shining eyes that seemed to sparkle, to glisten. Her eyelashes were thick and long and her skin was coloured beautifully. Beautiful. Perfect.

I looked at her and felt whole. Like a part of me had been filled that I hadn't realised had been missing until it was filled.

Kim. How had I sat next to her all year and not noticed her? Kim. Beauty and perfection, they all seemed to mean the same things to me now.

I don't even remember walking over to her. All I remember is her face. One moment I was at the back of the class. The next at the front. I was unwilling to take my eyes off of her. No. I was unable to take my eyes off her.

I was overwhelmed by all the emotions leaping up inside me. I wanted to hold her and protect her from everything. I wanted to keep her by my side forever. Otherwise, how would I know if she was safe? I wanted her with me. I needed to keep her happy. Keep a smile on her face. She couldn't, and would never cry at something I could stop happening. This was a silent promise I made to her and myself.

It wasn't gravity keeping me in place anymore. It wasn't air that I needed to breathe, it was her. Food and water weren't required. I could live without them. All I needed was her.

She was the most important thing to now. The most important thing to me ever. She was everything. She was the world.

I tried to memorise her face. Hell, I wouldn't be able to go without it for a day. She was my life. My only reason for living. She owned my heart, my soul and my very life force and would do always.

If she needed anything I would be there to get it for here. If she was ever hurt, not that I would ever allow that to happen, I would be there to wipe away her tears. And if she wished, I would always be by her side. Her protector, her soul mate and her one true love.

Say something smart, I told myself. Her eyes were wide, disbelieving and she was blushing. I realised then that my jaw was still hanging open. It took me a while to remember how to close it.

I couldn't think of anything to say. I could only stare. I longed to hear her voice. Why couldn't I remember it? Had I ever heard it before? Had I ever even spoken to her?

I was unaware of Mr Hanson, who had started speaking to the class. He didn't matter. Nothing, no one did. Only Kim. I was still staring. My eyes couldn't look away, and they didn't want to.

"Hi Jared". She spoke. She said. My name. Her voice was the most beautiful thing in the world. I longed to her it again. I wanted to make her laugh. I bet it was pretty. She'd looked away to the teacher. But her eyes kept flickering back to me.

I had to say something to her. What the hell could I say? I could tell her everything now, I knew that, but whether she would believe me was a different story. Did she like me at all?

"Hi Kim". My reply finally came. Idiot! Say something smart. Anything.

She was facing Mr Hanson, but that didn't mean anything. I was still staring. Maybe I was making her uncomfortable? She probably didn't even like me. She shifted nervously in her seat. My eyes caught the movement,she was so graceful. Beautiful. Kim.

We spent the entire lesson like that. I had to teach my eyes how to look away, to gaze unseeing at the front of the classroom, but I found I couldn't do so for my then a few seconds. It was almost like torture when I wasn't looking at her. Agony. I needed to look at her. I needed her. She looked at me a few times then blushed. She couldn't concentrate on her work and she must have thought I was some creepy stalker. I had no idea what the lesson that day was about. I was way too conscious of Kim's presence, less than a foot away.

When the lesson finished I stood up slowly. Working myself up to talking to her.

"Kim?" the classroom was empty apart from me, and her. I had goose bumps at the thought of us being alone.

She had taken a while to pack her books in her bag. When she had finished she glanced up at me and I lost my train of thought. Her eyes were so intriguing. Mesmerising.

She stood up and started to walk past me. Hurry up!

"K, Kim erm, me and some friends were thinking of going to the movies tonight, would… would you like to come?" I had made this up, of course. I immediately felt bad about lying to her. But, I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to see her again. She would understand, hopefully when I explained everything to her.

She looked unsure, and her vulnerability made me want to protect her. Hold her in my strong arms and shield her from everything in the word that could hurt her.

"W… Why are you asking me?" She seemed to struggle to get the words out. I knew why. Why would I invite her out with me, and my friends when I had barely spoken two words to her all year? She didn't believe that I liked her. And I didn't. I loved her. More than my body and my own life.

I shrugged. What could I say? Lots of things of course, but my mind couldn't think of anything at that moment.

She looked at me and I stopped breathing. I was constructed for her and she was moulded for me.

I felt a smile grow on my face. My heart started racing. She smiled in response, it seemed, automatic.

"We should get to our next lesson."

"No!" she looked shocked at my outburst, but I didn't want to be parted from her.

"What's your next lesson?"

"Um, trig."

"What room?" her face was confused.

"16" I was right down the hall from her, maybe I could meet up with her at lunch.

The next hour went past so slowly. I felt like I was going mad. Insane. I didn't know what was happening to her. Was she alright? Was she safe?

When the bell rang signalling lunch break, I shot out of the classroom so fast people in the room gasped in surprise.

I saw her walking away from me, towards the cafeteria and I made a mad dash through the corridor to get to her.

I tapped her on the shoulder and watched her expression as she turned round and saw me.

"Kim… hi" I couldn't think of anything to else to say. I felt so stupid.

"Hi… Jared" I couldn't stop my smile from growing when I heard her say my name.

"Will you ditch your next class and come with me?" What was I asking her? She would say no, and I couldn't blame her. I was acting like a stalker.

"Alright" she looked so unsure when she answered. Maybe she was scared. She wouldn't want to come with me. I didn't want her to have to do something she didn't want to. But she had said yes. I hovered for a moment, unsure what to do. Before deciding we would skip class, and if she still looked uncomfortable I would take her back.

A large guy in my gym class walked past us and knocked into Kim. I caught her before her face hit the ground and lifted her up, so she was upright then set her feet back on the ground. She had felt so right in my arms, I never wanted to let her go.

I turned angrily towards the guy who didn't even acknowledge Kim's presence.

"Hey, aren't you going to apologise?"

The guy turned and looked at Kim. He snorted, "No".

I glared at him in outrage and shook slightly.

"Jared, it's alright" A high, soft voice came from behind me.

I turned back to Kim and my breath caught in my throat. She was so beautiful.

"Are you OK?" My voice was gentle.

She nodded, appearing eager to reassure me.

She bent down and picked up her books that had fallen out of her bag. I bent down to help her pick them up.

She blushed when she saw me kneeling on the ground next to her. I couldn't think why.

I picked up her bag from the floor. "Let me carry that for you". She giggled at my attempt at chivalry.

It was when we were halfway across the parking lot, that I realised I didn't have my car with me. I turned to her with an apologetic look on my face. She smiled.

"You haven't got your car, right? We can sit in mine." She turned towards an old firebird car. I stood back and watched her climb in the drivers seat. Everything she did was beautiful. And everything she did was right. Hesitantly I climbed in the passenger seat.

She turned to sit cross-legged in her seat so she could look at me.

"So…" she had no idea what I wanted. I smiled at the look of confusion on her face.

I spoke first "We've never been really good friends right" she shook her head, "why is that?" she bit down on her lip. Before ranting…

"Well… you're friends with Sam Uley. You're friends with the "Popular Crowd"" she made quotation marks with her fingers. They made me smile sadly.

"Why would you want to be friends with me? Why did you ask me on a date? Why are you talking to me now?"

"Kim…" my heartbeat quickened as I spoke her name.

"I want to tell you something, but I'm not sure if you'll believe me."

"Shoot".

"I'll tell you tonight alright? If you go on a date with me."

"Do you really want to go on a date with me?"

"Why would I ask if I didn't?" I let out a laugh and she blushed.

"Hey…" she looked as if she had remembered something important. "Why were you off school all last week?"

I mumbled something about being ill. I couldn't tell her the truth here, she'd freak.

She laughed "I'm not going to give up that quick. Come on what was wrong with you?"

I gaped at her for a moment at her smile, before I remembered her question. Then remembered how to make my mouth move.

I told her something about food poisoning, and she bought it. I felt bad about lying to her. I wanted her to know the truth about everything.

"What's your favourite band?" she seemed startled by the question, but she answered anyway.

"The Spill Canvas." I nodded. I could play a few of their songs on my guitar. Maybe I could surprise her by playing her one?

We sat in the car for hours. We talked about nothing and everything. I wanted to know everything about her. She laughed at my eagerness and how I threw out another question as soon as she answered the last. At first she was shy and hesitant with her answers. Then she grew more comfortable and her answers were longer.

We were so comfortable with each other, we had a teasing argument about which band was better, The Spill Canvas or The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

We were two pieces of a puzzle. Exactly right. We were oblivious to the world around us. I could have stayed like that forever but we were snapped out of our own private world when there was a loud tap on my window.

My head whipped round, I was angry to see Paul's face pressed up against the glass. I wound down the window to speak to him.

"Jared, hey man, what are you doing in _Kim_s car?"

As soon as I heard his mocking tone of voice, I stared to shake.

**Alright guys, I'm still pretty new to fanfiction so reviews would be appreciated! Please tell me where I'm going right and going wrong! And if someone knows what an AU is, or what OCC means would you please tell me?? Thanks guys!! I'm sorry if its really obvious, but... like i say, I'm new, so cut me some slack OK? Thanks for reading!**


	3. The Beach

**Ok, thanks to all of you who reviewed and for helping me out with what a few things mean!! i love all of you guys- your awesome!**

* * *

I was shaking real bad. I bit down hard on my lip, until it bled. My instinct was to defend Kim, even though I knew Paul wasn't a threat to her. I wanted to rip him to shreds, to tear him to pieces. I couldn't help the angry snarl that came from my lips at his mocking voice.

Paul was smirking. He didn't realise what had happened to me in Biology, I had to resist the urge to pull his limbs from his torso.

I grasped the door handle in one hand and the gear stick in the other, before quickly releasing my hold on them and moving my hands to either side of my head instead, when I realised the plastic in Kim's car would break apart in my hands.

My breathing was ragged and coming in shallow breaths.

I heard to voices at the same time.

"Jared, are you alright?" came Kim's uncertain squeak.

"Whoa, Jared man, cool it! Maybe you should get out of the car?"

I let out a soft moan. I had to calm myself. Doing so was the most important thing in the world. Kim was right next to me. She could get hurt. I knew what Sam had done to Emily and how bad he felt. He regretted it every minute of every day. He had scarred Emily for life, and it was all his fault. Sam couldn't turn the clock back to fix his mistakes, but I could learn from them.

Kim, I needed to protect her from everything bad and wrong. How could I do this when I was so dangerous? These thoughts made me shake even more violently.

_Get a grip _I commanded.

Thankfully my body listened to my desperate thoughts and responded. The shaking slowed down until it stopped and I could take deep gulps of air again.

"Come on Jared, get out of _her_ car" again with the mocking tone of voice. This time my body almost erupted. Kim was gorgeous. Beautiful, inside and out. I squeezed my hands tightly together and screwed up my eyes.

Honestly, Kim was the only thing that stopped me from phasing right there and attacking Paul.

My breathing was wild and I started to try and tug on my hair, which had been cut too short for me to properly get a hold on.

A second or so later everything seemed to stop. Kim had placed her hand on mine. There was a wild, ravaging burst of electricity between us. I know she felt it too, for she let out a gasp and pulled away.

"No" my hand caught hers holding her back to me. I didn't know how I had lived my entire life without touching her.

It was like gravity had moved. It was like the entire world was holding its breath. Anticipating what was about to happen. I felt so alive. Before I had just existed, but now I was alive. Living life the way it was meant to be.

I looked into her wide, brown eyes and saw something in them. I swear I did. I had to touch her. I already was, but now I had touched her soft skin, I wasn't sure if I would be able to let go. She was like a drug and my whole soul was addicted.

With my free hand, I reached over and lightly ran my fingertips down her right arm. They felt like they were on fire, and I took her other hand, so they were both in mine. We were the only two people in the world.

I heard a throat being cleared behind me. Paul. At Kim's touch I had completely forgotten his existence. I turned my head slightly, but kept my eyes on Kim's face.

"Erm, Jared, call me later alright?"

Would I? Maybe.

Me, and Kim sat there for a while longer. In a comfortable silence, gazing at each other. Here small hands fitted perfectly in my huge ones. We were two separate pieces of a puzzle.

It was Kim who finally broke the silence. "J… Jared, did you say something about the movies?"

I nodded eagerly. "Do you want to go see something?"

She shrugged, "I honestly don't know what's on".

"Wait…" I paused thinking. "I've had a better idea".

I wanted to tell her the truth tonight. Today would be even better. I had lied to her. Even though it was just a small one, about why I was away from school, I wanted her to know the truth about me.

"Can we go to the beach?"

She seemed unsure at first. She probably thought I was some kind of psycho, wanting her to come to the beach with me. An easier way to hide her body. I shuddered at the thought.

Her eyes flickered down to our clasped hands, and up again to my face. She smiled, and looked genuinely happy while she nodded.

I gazed down at her lovingly. She was the most extraordinary girl I had ever laid eyes upon.

"Do you need anything from your house before we go?" I wanted her to be comfortable, I had some pretty big news for her.

She shook her head almost frantically, and I noticed the look of horror in her eyes.

"Please… lets just go to the beach"

I felt my face slip into a frown, why did she not want to go back to her home? She looked back up at me and smiled again, and my frown was erased and replaced with a look of the utmost joy. If she made me like this, I was pretty sure I would be unable to be happy without her ever again.

We drove to the beach talking about things that to anyone else would seem unimportant. But to me they were the most important things in the world. Kim told me about how her mom and dad had had a messy break up when she was nine, and her mom was living with another guy in Texas. This seemed like an uncomfortable subject for her and we didn't talk about it long. I had a feeling that she was leaving something important out of her story. But I didn't press her for more details. I found out about pets she'd had in the past, he favourite colour,** (A/N to those who have asked, yes I am English, and I spell colour with a "u" )**and her favourite flower. Her favourite memories. Everything that made her who she was.

* * *

When we arrived at the beach. I had to stop her before she could let herself out.

She roared with laughter when I ran round to her door and offered her my hand to help her out. She blushed and accepted it. I felt the fire in my veins again. But she pulled away all too quickly.

She looked away from me and bit her lip. She was worried by something. That was wrong, my angel shouldn't be worried. I turned my head to see what she was looking at. The sunset. Wait… _sunset_! Would she get into trouble for getting home so late? It would all be my fault if it was.

"Do you need to go home?" I asked with concern.

She screwed up her face while she thought. The expression made her look adorable.

"As long as I'm back by… 10pm, I think I should be OK"

I turned to see the clock in the car.

"So… half an hour here before we set off home?" she nodded and her face was happy again.

I took her hand and felt the pulses of electricity throb again. There was tension in the air around as we walked to wooden bench. She sat in a comfortable silence for a few minuets. And I just watched her.

She turned slowly towards me and seeing my intense gaze on her she blushed.

"Jared…" she began shy. "Why did you ask me to come here with you?"

I stared into her eyes. She stared fiercely back, demanding to know the answer. I was lost in her eyes for a few moments, before remembering her question. I decided to tell her the truth.

"Kim, I'm going to tell you something now, and you're probably not going to believe it."

Her eyes widened for a moment and she accepted that whatever I was about to tell her was going to be big. She smiled and nodded at me, seeming to realise I needed the encouragement. I felt myself smile back.

"Righty-o, well, erm, Kim I'm kind of in love with you". _Well_ _done_ _Jared._ _No_ _really,_ _well_ _done._ _You_ _idiot! _

I sounded like I was joking.

She looked at me like I was crazy. Then she looked away and I saw the hurt in her eyes. She didn't believe me.

She started pulling away and I grasped her wrist, she needed to understand.

"Why are you telling me something like this?" She demaned. I gaped at her.

I could think of no other answer other then, "Because it's true".

Her eyes were welling up with tears and I was appalled with myself, I was appalled because I was the cause of her pain.

"Kim, no listen please, please I'm begging". My tone of voice caught her attention and she looked up to meet my gaze.

"I'm a werewolf, Kim." I knew I didn't sound believable, but I wanted her to know the truth. I should have gained her trust first, but I thought I saw it in her eyes earlier.

Those were the first uneasy moments we had spent in each other's company.

"Ok" she said breathlessly.

Then she quickly wrenched her arm out of my grasp. I could have held on to her, but I was so scared I would hurt her. She glared at me with something similar to hate in her eyes. She stood up and started to run back to her car. My arms caught her before she had taken five steps.

"Kim, listen to me"-

"No you listen to me Jared" I immediately fell silent. I would do what ever she asked of me.

"I cannot believe you brought me out here to tell me that crap, what was this a dare? It was wasn't it? Paul dared you!"

How could she think these things? In the car I had felt myself on fire at her touch. I could feel her name coursing through my veins. We were perfect matches. Did she not feel the same way towards me?

"Kim, please, nobody dared me. It's true. You have to believe me".

"Just leave me alone Jared".

I stood still and watched her drive away. The world was crashing down around me, falling apart. What had I done? Kim hated me. Thought I was lying. My whole body felt numb. I couldn't breathe. I wanted to follow her. But she had told me to stay away. I was torn between what I wanted, and my constant desire for her to be happy.

I didn't even notice when my body fell forward and my face hit the ground.

**Ok guys, i would carry on, but i have a lot of maths home work i should be doing and i'm going to start it right now, and i'm also a little scared of my maths teacher, sooo i'm hoping i can understand it. Reviews will make me write the next chapter a lot quicker, and this is my favourite chapter so far, so if you liked it, review! if you hated it, review! really i would like constructive criticism! - thanks guys!**


	4. Waking UP

I woke up, disorientated, dizzy and wondering why I was so comfortable. The last images that passed through my mind were of Kim's car. She was driving away, leaving me behind. Why had she done that? Why?

Realisation hit me like a battering ram. She didn't love me. She didn't want me. The pain in my chest was constricting my lungs. I couldn't breathe. The only movement I could make was to move my legs up to my chest, and hold them there.

I don't know how long I stayed curled up in a tight ball. But after a while I could wipe away the tears from my cheeks, and roll over to see exactly where I was.

I was on Sam's tiny couch in his front room. I peered over the armrest and saw Sam and Paul looking at me with concern. I sighed. I had my family, my brothers, but they meant nothing without Kim. She was my first priority, the most important thing in my world. Compared to her my family and everything else was irrelevant.

"Jared…" Paul spoke hesitantly. I turned away back into my protective ball. I could hear Paul and Sam whispering. They didn't want me to hear, but they shouldn't have bothered. I wasn't listening anyway. I didn't want to. I wanted to be left alone to have another sob fest. I wasn't the kind of guy who would normally cry, but having your heart broken really takes it out of you. If this wasn't a good reason to cry, nothing is.

"Jared…" Paul spoke again. "I'm going to school, if you feel like coming you can." I ignored him, and heard him leave.

Just me, and Sam were left in the room. I wanted him to leave me alone. I was about to turn and tell him to leave, when he spoke first…

"What are you going to do?" I couldn't believe his question. The love of my life, the only girl I would ever want that way, was gone. She didn't want me back. She was out of my life completely. Gone. Forever.

"Look, Jared I know exactly how you feel. You feel like your entire life's' over, like you have no reason for living. Get a grip, man. You have to go after her."

In less then a second I was on my feet. Yelling right in Sam's face.

"Go after her? Do you have any idea what she said to me? Do you not think that if I could go after her I would have? I can't go after her Sam!"

My breathing was heavy and I my mind was fighting for control over my shaking body. I was using all my concentration not to attack Sam.

His eyes moved over me critically. I dug my nails deeper into my palms.

Suddenly he seemed to realise something.

"Jared, what exactly did she say to you down at the beach?"

I glanced up, had I not told him?

"To leave her alone."

I saw the sympathy appear in his eyes. He understood. Sam had imprinted on Emily, and he knew, even if no one else did. He knew how I felt. Knew how I would do anything Kim asked of me, even if it meant me being miserable for the rest of my life.

"Jared, I understand how you feel man, I really do, it's exactly what happened to me."

I turned and glared at Sam, he didn't know how I felt. This had never happened to him. Emily had accepted him without any doubt of what he was, and how he felt about her. Hadn't she?

He saw the look of confusion in my eyes and smiled sadly.

"Sit down man."

I slumped into the tiny couch and leaned back closing my eyes.

"When I first imprinted on Emily, she didn't talk to me for a week." My eyes snapped open. How did he bear it?

He grinned, pleased that he had caught my attention.

"Why?" My voice cracked.

"She thought I was crazy." Sam shrugged. "You couldn't blame her, I blurted out the truth to her almost as soon as I first laid eyes on her."

"Wait… no you didn't. I've seen it in your thoughts. She believed you. You'd hurt her and she believed you. She had to, she'd seen you phase."

I saw the anguish in Sam's eyes. He hated himself or what he had done to Emily.

"Yeah, I guess I never thought about how I originally tried to tell Emily what I was. I was dating Leah at the time. Emily came over to visit, I saw her and fell in love."

Sam smiled slightly at the memory.

"I can never forget the moment I first saw her…" Sam trailed off. I allowed him 10 seconds to reflect on his thoughts, before my impatience got the better of me. I was so eager to know if Sam had made as big a mess as I just did?

I cleared my throat loudly. He looked up as if only just remembering I was there, blushing slightly.

"So yeah… I asked her if I could talk to her privately, she was confused but came with me. I tried to explain to her what I was, and how I felt about her. She screamed at me that I was dating her cousin. I told her that she didn't matter to me anymore. Emily was appalled, and pretty much hated me."

I was shocked at what I had learnt. I hadn't screwed things up worse then he had. That was a small comfort. No wonder Sam had never shown me these memories. They must be so painful for him to talk to me about. Still, that didn't stop me from making a mental note to ask him about it while we were both in wolf form.

"Emily wanted me to stay away from her, but I followed her anyway. Jared, you need to go after her."

"But… she wanted me to stay away." I had no idea how I would act against her wishes.

Sam looked at me like I was stupid.

"Look, I know she said stay away, but she didn't mean it."

I had just passed the state of been Slightly Confused into Total Confusion.

"Why would she say that if she didn't mean it."

Sam rolled his eyes at me.

"Because she was freaked out, jees, can't you understand what she must have been thinking? Paul told me what you two were like in the car. According to him you both looked like you were "_gagging_ _for_ _it_" his words not mine." Sam laughed quietly, and I felt my face turning red.

I leaned forwards at put my head in my hands.

"What do I do Sam?"

He must have heard the desperate tone in my voice.

"It'll all turn out fine, you watch." I looked up into his understanding face and nodded. I sighed.

"What time is it? Will I make it to first period?"

Sam glanced at the clock on the kitchen counter.

"If we hurry."

"We?"

"Yup, you're car isn't back from the garage yet, I'm gonna drive you. And I want to know how this all works out."

I grabbed my rucksack from the floor and ran flat out to the car parked outside. I threw myself in the back seat and Sam jumped in the front. I was bouncing in anticipation. I needed to see Kim's face. What if she was hurt? What if her car had crashed on her way home from the beach? Her eyes had been filling up with tears, what if they had blinded her? I was about to ask Sam if he had seen anything on his way home from the beach, when I remembered there was something he hadn't told me.

"How did you know I was at the beach?"

Sam looked at me in the rear-view mirror.

"Me, and Paul were waiting for you in my front room and we saw Kim drive past without you. We figured you must have told her everything about us and went to find you."

I waited for the rest of his answer, but it didn't sound like it was coming.

"And?"

"Well me, and Paul decided you are a bit of a _hopeless_ _romantic_, and decided one of the most likely places you would have taken her would have been the beach."

"A _hopeless_ _romantic_?" I scoffed.

"Again, Paul's words, not mine."

I growled under my breath and glared out of the window. Why were we taking so long?

After what seemed like a lifetime, we arrived at the school.

"Thanks man" I blurted out before sprinting into the school building. The corridors were almost empty. I ran through the corridors and up on flight of stairs, until I reached my classroom, which I burst into without knocking.

There were snickers coming from people in the room, but I ignored them, my eyes didn't even see them. They slid straight past looking for the one person in the entire world that I had eyes for.

I did a double take when I saw her empty chair. My eyes quickly scanned the classroom, had she moved seats? No she wasn't in the room at all. Had she switched classes?

I turned to Mr Hanson who was glaring at me. Obviously expecting me to apologise.

"Where's Kim?" were the only two words out of my mouth.

"I think the correct words you're looking for are, sorry sir" he spread his arms out a bit wider, trying to make himself look bigger.

I felt like hitting him. My body started to shake, Kim was the most important thing in the world, and he was deliberately stopping me from finding her.

_Calm_ _down_. I told myself. _Do_ _it_ _for_ _Kim_. To that my body responded, and my shaking stopped.

"Where's Kim?" I repeated.

The teacher gave me a look of loathing. No doubt, he thought I was a troublemaker. I could almost see the cogs turning in his brain. He could tell from my tone of voice, that finding Kim was important to me, and if I was any other student there was no way he would give me the information I needed to know. But I was well over six feet tall, and I'm sure he didn't want to know what would happen to his face if it came into contact with my fist. I flexed my muscles slightly, as if to illustrate a point, and he got the message.

"She's ill."

I nodded, before turning and walking straight back out of the classroom.

**Ok, please review!! I'm getting loads of hits, but no reviews! I need to know what you guys out there think of it! To those few who have reviewed my story... i love you guys soooo much- make me love you even more by reviewing again!!**


	5. Hugs And Waffles

**I'm sorry i took so long to update, but to to the people who have left reviews on my my chapters- i love you!!**

**enjoy!!**

* * *

I heard Mr Hanson's angry shouts following me down the corridor.

"Just where do you think you are going?" I ignored him and broke into a run, sending the double doors of the school flying. I carried on running too fast, until I crashed into the side of Sam's car. Sam let out a yelp and I launched myself into the backseat.

"Where does Kim live?"

"Huh?"

I snarled at his confusion. I knew it was wrong and it wasn't his fault, but at that moment I didn't care. I needed to see Kim. Was it my fault she wasn't at school? Was she just avoiding me?

When I didn't answer him he seemed to realise what was going on and he reversed out of his parking space. I was jumping up and down in my seat, during the journey, impatient to see Kim again. I hadn't seen her face, her eyes, her smile all day. I needed to see her, even if she didn't want to see me. Even if it was just to check on her, to make sure she was OK. I could tell I was annoying Sam, but he didn't say anything.

"Where does Kim live?" I repeated.

"I'm not sure…" I cut off the rest of his sentence with an angry growl. Why the hell was he driving me round here if he didn't know where Kim lived?

"Let me finish, I know the direction and I know what car she drives, so if you want we can just randomly drive round looking for it."

I leant back in the seat trying to think. I couldn't remember what kind of car she drove. I was too preoccupied with being with her. I didn't want to ask Sam what kind of car she drove. It seemed like if I did, it would mean I had failed somehow. I peeked through my eyelids at the back of Sam's head.

It was agony. I longed to see Kim. That beautiful face, that I loved. Her smile. I loved all of her. Every aspect. Nothing could be changed, or altered to make her more perfect.

"Keep a lookout Jared" I heard him say quietly. I pressed my face up to the window, not caring how ridiculous I looked, turning my head wildly, trying to see as much of what could. I didn't know if I was looking down Kim's street. I was hoping that maybe when I saw Kim's car I would remember it.

We turned down another lane and Sam braked sharply.

"What? Why have we stopped?" My neck cricked as I tried to look everywhere at once. Where was Kim's car?

"That's it." Sam pointed in the right direction and I saw the old, white firebird car that I knew belonged to Kim. Parked outside an old house cut off from the rest, by big green ferns and trees.

I jumped out of the car and started running towards the house.

"Do you want me to wait for you?" Sam yelled. I ignored him and hoped he realised that meant no.

I tried the front door and it swung open, I smiled, obviously the house wanted to let me in, but did Kim?

I walked around the ground floor silently. There was nobody there, so I checked upstairs. I peeked my head into the bathroom and bedrooms just long enough to make sure no one was home. I reached the last door in the upstairs hall and realised that it must be Kim's room. Suddenly I felt nervous. My hand was shaking, a different sort of shaking to what I was used to. I wasn't shaking because I was about to phase. I was shaking out of nerves.

Quietly I crept into Kim's room and let out a gasp. Kim's walls were bare and her carpet was thin. The curtains of her room weren't drawn and looked too small to fit the windows anyway, and there were branches from a tree outside scraping against it. Kim's duvet was a faded purple and she had a double bed pushed up against the wall. But I didn't notice any of this until later. At this point all my attention was focused on the sleeping figure curled up in a ball on the bed.

Kim's long hair was in disarray, and spread out behind her head like a dark halo. Her mouth was open slightly, her eyelashes casting long shadows on her cheeks. She was breathing deeply, an image of peace and beauty.

I sat close to her feet trying not to put too much weight on her bed. I gazed down at her, bewildered. I wanted to wake her up, to see her eyes look at me, to see recognition in her eyes. To see her smile… Stop right there. She didn't want me. She told me to leave her alone.

She rolled onto her back, yawned and opened her eyes. I darted out of the room too quickly for her to see anything. I heard bedsprings creak as she shifted on the bed. She yawned again. I hurriedly tried to remember what someone would want when they first woke up in the morning.

I darted down the staircase and ran into her kitchen. I opened up the cupboards and scanned the shelves. They were mostly empty, and I noticed the cans of beer that filled up the fridge. I didn't think anything of it, and grabbed two microwaveable waffles. They took twenty seconds to warm up, and I threw them on a plate before tiptoeing back to Kim's room.

She was lying with her eyes closed, but I could tell she was awake. I decided that letting her know I was here was better than her opening her eyes and thinking there was some creepy pervert watching a teenage girl while she slept.

I moved the waffles to the bedside table and bent slowly to carefully press my lips to her forehead.

Her eyes flew open and she gasped.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

For a few seconds I sat next to her in an awed silence. She was so beautiful, even now when she was angry. Her eyes glared at me. Once again, it was entirely my fault. Everything was. Of course she was angry.

I knew I would have to be careful with what I said.

"Please Kim, just listen to me." I waited for her to say something.

She paused for a few seconds. "Alright, I'll listen to you. But you'd better tell me what the hell you think you are doing, and explain why you lied to me yesterday."

It took me a few moments to realise what she was talking about.

"No, no, I never lied to you." The look she gave me was one of loathing.

"Then why did you never say two words to me before yesterday, and then you make me drive you to the beach, where you tell me you love me? Why won't you just admit that it was a dare? Or are you and Paul trying to make bigger fools of me then you already have?"

"Kim, please I'm not trying to make a fool out of you."

"A werewolf." She spat the words at me. "That's what you said you are." Her eyes were starting to well up with tears. No, she couldn't cry that wasn't fair. She was so kind, she didn't deserve to be upset, ever.

"Don't cry Kim." My words came out like a whisper.

Before I knew what was happening, I was holding her too me. Hugging her soft body close. There was an electric current passing through us, and I gasped wildly. Immediately I cringed, I didn't want to scare her. I started to push her away.

"No!" she whispered. I paused, not knowing what it was she wanted.

Her wide eyes gazed up at me. I reached out, and gently wiped away the tears from her cheeks. My eyes widened too as her breathing increased.

We sat there for a few more seconds, just staring at each other. She leaned in towards me, and I closed my eyes sure she was going to kiss me. What happened next took me completely by surprise.

Her hand swung round and slapped me in the side of my face.

I stared at her in shock. Her lower lip trembled and her eyes darted across my face. We stayed like that for a few seconds until…

"Jared…" she whispered my name. "Ouch." She clutched her hand.

"I'm sorry, Kim, I have a really hard head."

Her heavy breathing was making her start hyperventilating. I felt so bad. She was in pain and she was sad and it was all my fault.

"Why did you say those things to me?" she whispered her words so quietly it was only thanks to my superhero like hearing that I could hear her.

"Huh?" which things?

She glanced over at me.

"Please leave Jared."

I couldn't move. I was frozen in place.

"Jared, go." She said her words more forcefully. I left her room carefully watching her.

I was standing just outside her bedroom door, when I heard a sound that almost broke my heart. I knew I couldn't leave, so I turned and almost stumbled back into Kim's room.

Kim was sitting on the floor, her back against her bed, hugging her knees, sobbing. She wasn't loud, but her tears were real. Before I knew what I was doing, I had crossed her floor in a single stride. I gathered her up into my arms and pulled her onto my lap. She buried her face in my chest and cried into it. She wasn't loud, but my shirt was still getting stained with salt water. I rubbed soothing circles on her back and she wrapped her arms around my neck.

I don't know how long we sat like that. Two puzzle pieces. Designed for each other. I heard her stomach rumble loudly, and I laughed softly in her ear. I reached for the waffles, which had turned cold, but we ate them anyway. She twisted in my lap, so we were facing each other. Then spoke in a soft voice.

"Jared, please tell me the truth." I smiled at her.

"I love you Kim."

Her eyes searched my face and she sighed. Slowly she shook her head, and I caught her chin, forcing her to stop.

"Don't you believe me?"

Her mouth opened slightly, and I seized my chance. I softly and very sweetly pressed my lips to hers.

I pulled back after a second to watch her face. There was a look of disbelief on her face and she reached up to press her fingers against my lips, almost as if she didn't quite believe that they were real. I caught her hand, and kissed each of her fingertips.

"Please believe me Kim."

* * *

**I hoped you guys liked this chapter - because I'm still not happy with it. please remember to leave a review, and i have writers block again- so any ideas will be welcome!**

**And i have a poll up on my profile, about whether i should do: a oneshot, a full story, or nothing at all, from Kim's POV.- please remember to vote!**


	6. A Question

**I would like to thank every one who has reviewed so far! You guys make me want to write so much faster!**

* * *

Her eyes looked into mine. Like she was trying to read my mind. I sat facing her, wondering what she was seeing.

Slowly her face pulled into a smile, and I felt my face slip naturally into an answering one. If she was happy, it was impossible for me to be sad.

She reached up and shyly stroked my cheek with her fingers. I shivered before I could stop myself. She moved her face so that her forehead was pressed against mine.

"I love you too Jared." She breathed the words quietly.

It was so strange, how those five words could change everything. I loved Kim. I valued her more highly than my own life. But, now I knew she loved me back… the electric current that was always flowing through me when I was with her, was heightened, pulsing through me at an incredible rate.

I felt the overwhelming urge to kiss her. But I wasn't sure if she wanted me to. It was her who made the decision for us.

She bent her head towards me and brushed her lips against mine. She was so hesitant. I wrapped my hands around her waist, pulling her closer. And she locked her arms around my neck. Placing her head on my broad chest, she sighed contentedly again.

We remained together, in a lovers embrace for far too short a time. We were interrupted by another grumble, from my stomach this time.

Kim giggled and stood up trying to pull me with her.

"Come on, you're hungry."

"No I'm not!" I teased, denying the noise that was steadily growing louder.

"Come on." She complained at my reluctance to leave her room. I pulled her back onto my lap, and she closed her eyes when I pressed my lips, softly, to her nose.

"Will you come with me if I said I'm hungry?"

"Of course" I grinned. She nodded.

"I'm hungry." She said watching my expression carefully. I laughed. We stood and she led me down the stairs to her kitchen.

I walked purposely to the fridge and opened it. She stepped in front of me before I could see inside, pulling the door close to her side so I couldn't see past her and she pulled ham and cheese, that I hadn't seen earlier, out from the fridge. Then she turned, so gracefully, back to the counter and pulled a loaf of bread out of an overhead cupboard.

I stared, transfixed at her for a few moments, before I remembered what I had seen in the fridge earlier.

"Erm… Kim?"

"Yes" she turned to face me, smiling. I forgot what I was about to say and all that came out was a kind of garbled sigh. She sniggered.

"I love you." I told her. I saw her blush.

"I love you too." We gazed at each other, smiling.

"Oh, the sandwiches!" she remembered what she was supposed to be making. I shook my head, laughing.

"God, you're so stupid Kim." I teased. This seemed to be the wrong thing to say. Her smile faded, she bit her lip and turned away.

"Kim, are you alright? I didn't mean it, I was just kidding around," I tried desperately to make her understand. What had I said? My voice was sarcastic, I was sure of it. She couldn't think I was serious.

"No, honestly Jared, I'm fine, just fine, you didn't say anything." She wasn't looking at me, but her voice was thick and I could tell she was about to burst into tears.

"Kim, no, don't cry, I'm so sorry." I stepped over to her and slipped my arms around her waist. She put down the knife she was holding and turned to press her face into my chest and slip her own arms around my waist.

I stroked her hair and made shushing noises. She sniffed and I wrapped my arms, more securely around her shoulders. This was wrong. This was so wrong. Nothing should make her cry. I would see to it that nothing would ever upset her.

"I'm so sorry Kim." I whispered against her hair. "Please don't cry." She pulled away, slightly so she could wipe away the tears from her cheeks.

"It's not your fault, Jared, alright." She pulled away and started cutting up the bread again.

I paused and then asked, "Whose fault is it?"

She stopped what she was doing, but she didn't turn round, and didn't answer me. I paused for a moment, then spun on my heels and walked back to the fridge. I pulled open the door and heard Kim's knife clatter to the floor. The shelves in the fridge were covered with beer bottles; there was only one shelf in the centre that had groceries on it.

"Kim, who do you live with here?" I asked her gently.

"My dad." She seemed, when she answered, almost reluctant to tell me.

"Where is he now?"

She bent to the floor, and with shaky fingers, picked up the knife again.

"He's out." I nodded my head.

I glanced around Kim's kitchen and saw it differently. The barely furnished rooms and bare walls all seemed to make sense.

"Kim, can I ask you something?"

She glanced up at me and smiled weakly, "you just have. But you can ask me something else."

I paused, not knowing how to address the situation. "Is your dad an alcoholic?"

She gazed up at me, her eyes set in defiance. Then whispered "No." I could see the lie behind her eyes. What she was really saying was "yes". But I needed her to the word.

"You can trust me you know." I smiled at her, hoping she could see the sincerity in me.

She looked up at me, her beautiful lower lip trembling, and then glared down at the floor. "No, he isn't."

I nodded. It was obvious that she was lying, but I couldn't think of anything to say. Then I saw the shoulder that she was rubbing absentmindedly. I caught her hand, before she could continue. She gasped and her eyes focused on my face. I looked at her and slowly moved her sleeve higher up her arm.

There was a purple and black bruise about the size of my fist covering the top of her arm. I traced the outline of it gently and moved the material even higher to see the bruises continue further.

I moved her sleeve back down, so it was covering the awful bruises that ruined her beautiful skin and carried on moving my fingers downwards stroking her arms carefully.

Her thin body was trembling and her face wasn't looking at me.

"Kim." I whispered gently. I moved my right hand up to lift her face so I could see into her eyes. They gazed back at me, terrified. I had never felt so angry. My entire body shook, suddenly, and Kim took a step away and pressed her back up against the counter. I clenched my fists, and dug my nails into my hands, defiantly. Blood dripped from my fists and splashed onto the lino floor. And I fell to my knees, I couldn't phase here. I would hurt Kim and she was the only thing in my life. How could someone do this to her? She was so good. So gentle and she didn't deserve any of this.

I wanted to stand up and hold her, but I couldn't. My body was still trembling. I was sure I was scaring her and that wasn't right either.

Then I felt the one thing that could have calmed me down when I was in this state. I felt Kim's fingertips tracing my face, and my eyelids flew open, I hadn't even realised I had closed them.

Slowly Kim took her fingers away from my face and took my hands in hers. My breathing started to quicken as she kissed the cuts my fingernails had made.

She started trying to bandage up my hands, but I stopped her by holding her wrists.

"Jared, your hands are bleeding really bad." She said the words quietly. I sighed. I could tell her later about how bandaging my hands would be pointless. And how they would already be healing.

"Kim…" I had to tell her this, even though I was sure she wouldn't believe me, not yet. "Nobody will ever hurt you again. All right, I'll make sure of it. No harm will ever come to you if I can stop it, ever." The words I spoke were true, but I couldn't tell if she believed me or not.

She pulled away, not looking at me. And carried on with making the sandwiches. She didn't believe me; by not meeting my gaze she confirmed that. My breathing caught in my throat as I watched her, she was holding the knife delicately, almost as if she was scared of it.

I knew I couldn't let her stay in this house on her own. If she was hurt again it would all be my fault, and I didn't know if I would be able to stop myself from killing her father. Her father, a man I had never met, and I hated him more than anything else. I hated him with hatred so powerful, it felt like it would consume me. Kim was the only thing stopping me from phasing, running out of this house right now and killing him.

"Jared, it's alight, it doesn't even hurt anymore, honestly. Now would you like the ham or the cheese?" I examined her carefully. Either she was putting up a very good show, or she was telling the truth.

"Erm… I don't know? What would you like?"

"What would you like?" she wanted me to pick. And I wanted her to.

"No. You go first."

"No, I insist."

We sniggered at the absurdity, of neither of us wanting to be the first person to pick a sandwich. We both moved to the counter at the same time, she reached for the cheese and I for the ham. I smiled a goofy grin, and she giggled.

Struck with a sudden idea, I said, "Hey, do you want to come with me and meet Sam and Paul." The rest of the pack, I thought in my head, but didn't say out loud.

She paused and I could tell she was thinking very hard.

"Paul." She spoke the name slowly.

"Sure." I said pleasantly, "They'd love to meet you."

She looked up at me, "I don't think Paul would."

I stared at her, before pressing my lips to her forehead. "Of course they'd want to meet you."

"Really? Because Paul yesterday, he didn't look like he wanted to. He looked at me like the freak I am."

"Your not a freak." I wrapped my arms around her waist, "who told you that?"

She didn't look at me, focusing her eyes instead on the walls.

"He did, didn't he?" I didn't say who, but I knew she knew who I meant.

She nodded, still not looking at me. And another ripple of anger coursed through me.

She pulled away slightly and looked at me again.

"Why do you do that?"

I forced my body to stop shaking. To concentrate on Kim, she was still in the room.

"Why do I do what?" I was hoping she would drop it. And I put an innocent expression on my face.

She folded her arm, pulling away completely. I longed to reach out and touch her again; I missed the warmth and electricity I felt at her touch. So instead I concentrated completely on her glorious face, even though she looked annoyed she was still the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

"You know what. Why do you start shaking when you hear things like that?"

I gazed down at her. What could I tell her? I'm a werewolf? I had tried that before. It didn't go down too well. She still thought that when I said that it was a dare. She believed me when I said that I loved her. I was sure that was true. It was something she could imagine happening. Something she was vaguely aware of, but a werewolf. They didn't exist, not to her, until now.

"If you come with me, I'll tell you." I smirked. She had told me yesterday that she was a very curious person.

She scowled at me, before nodding. I laughed and glanced at the clock, it was 4pm. "Do you mind if I borrow your phone." She paused for a moment, before nodding.

I picked up the receiver and dialled Sam's number. Before the second ring I heard Paul's voice answer.

"Jared, is that you man?"

"Yeah, listen-

"OH MY GOD! Jared, how come you didn't call sooner? What's going on, man? What have you told her? You love her don't you?" I heard Paul's crazy laughing and then a thud and an "Ouch!"

"Jared?" I heard Sam's voice. "What's up? What's happening with you and Kim?"

"Look Sam…" I turned so I could see Kim's face while I was talking to him. Kim was watching me and I smiled, an answering smile spread across her face and she blushed at having been caught staring. "Can we come round?"

"Have you told her what we are?"

"No."

"Have you told her that you love her?"

"Yes."

"Well…"

"Well what?"

"What did she say?" Sam shouted down the phone and I moved it away from my ear.

"God, some people are so impatient." I could feel the smile on my face growing and Kim smiled at me again.

"Did she say she loves you back?"

"Yes."

I heard Sam talk to someone next to him. Then I heard another voice, Paul's.

"Well why aren't you round here then? Sometimes, Jared, you have to be the most stupid person ever! We want to meet her."

"Can we come round now?"

"Of course you can come round now-

I heard a scuffle and then a yelp, "this is my phone and my house Paul, you can't just invite people round."

Then Sam's voice was louder as he spoke down the phone to me. "Of course you can come round now." I laughed at them.

"Thanks Sam." I put the phone down and turned back to Kim.

"Are you ready?"

She looked at me, and then down at herself, she was still in pyjamas.

"Wait, just one minute." Then she turned and ran back up her stairs.

* * *

**Remember to review you guys! And remember to vote on my poll! And also, why does chapter 3 have the least amount of reviews? it was my favourite chapter and nobody likes it! why? Anyway please remember to review, because again, i'm not too sure if i like this chapter too much! - thanks guys!**


	7. Visiting Friends

**I'm sorry for the long wait for this chapter, but my teachers were being mean! It's the summer holidays now so I should be able to update more often! And thanks to everybody who reviewed! You guys make me smile :)**

* * *

I waited patiently by her front door. One minute passed. After at least 10, my foot started tapping against the wall. After 15 I started nervously biting my nails. And after 20 I decided she'd had long enough to change, and I ran up her stairs to check on her.

"Kim?" I knocked on her bedroom door.

"Huh?" her answering voice sounded annoyed.

"Are you alright? What's taking so long?"

I heard her sigh, then she tugged on the door handle and let me in. I glanced into her room. She was wearing the same pyjamas that she had when she first went to go and get changed. And what looked like her entire wardrobe was tossed across her bed.

I grinned. "So what's the problem?"

She turned back to glare at me. When she saw the smile, the corners of her lips pulled upwards, then she remembered she was supposed to be annoyed with me and, she frowned again, it looked like she was struggling to keep her face like that.

"What am I supposed to wear?"

At this I couldn't help, but burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" she crossed her arms and she pouted slightly. I laughed even harder at her expression she looked adorable.

"Look Kim, just wear whatever you want, you'll look great in anything." She smiled slightly, before shaking her head… she didn't believe me.

I sighed, faking anger, and leaned my head back against the wall waiting for her to settle on an outfit. I looked up again when I heard her clear her throat, catching my attention instantly. She was holding black jeans and a tee shirt and an unfathomable expression on her face.

I stood watching her for a few seconds, she looked up from her feet, into my eyes and I felt my heartbeat increase.

"Erm… could you leave the room please?" it took me a few moments to understand what she wanted. She wanted me to leave. I felt hurt for a few seconds, before remembering the clothes she was holding.

"Sorry." I blushed and ran out of the room as fast as I could. She didn't think I was going to pressure her into anything, did she? I would never ever do that.

After a surprisingly short time, only a few seconds, she opened the door and ran straight into me. I caught her and pulled her so she was upright. The fire in my veins was intensified. She fitted in my arms and I never wanted to let her go. I hugged her closer to me for a moment then released her.

Her eyes were glaring down at my shoes. I pulled up her chin with my hand, forcing her to look at me.

"What's the rush?" I asked her with a smile on my face.

"I… just didn't want to leave you waiting." She blushed. I laughed and stroked her hair softly. She closed her eyes and sighed quietly.

I stopped and pulled away, "So, do you want to meet the guys?"

She shrugged, "Sure." She sounded more confident then she did before, but her eyes told me she was more nervous then she showed.

I followed her down the stairs, memorising the way she moved. She walked out of the door and shot me a smile. I left her house in a daze, momentarily dazzled.

She walked round to the drivers' side and let herself in; my ego took an extreme hit. I wanted to drive for her.

I round the front and tapped on her glass.

I waited for a few seconds while she wound down her window.

"What's up Jared?" she smiled.

I paused for a few seconds. I had completely forgotten what I was about to say.

"Can I drive?" I flashed her a smile, hoping that I would have the same affect on her as she did on me.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why?"

I smiled wider, "Please?" I didn't answer her question. She wouldn't believe me anyway.

Her eyes grew soft at my smile; she nodded and didn't even look like she was thinking about it.

She slid over the centre of the car and into her seat, and I bent down low so I could fit into her very small car. She giggled when I had to push the seat as far back as it would go and it was still difficult for me to get my legs underneath the steering wheel.

We were halfway to Sam's house sitting in a comfortable silence when Kim started the conversation pleasantly, "So… what made you want to drive so much?"

I looked over at her, finally with an excuse; I had been stealing glances for most of the beginning of our journey.

"Erm… nothing." It was obvious I was lying and she laughed.

"Look, you know I'm stubborn, and I will get it out of you eventually." She was right on both accounts.

"Alright." I knew I wasn't going to put up much of an argument. There was no point against Kim. She could make me do anything. "I wanted to drive you, because I don't want you to feel like you need to do things for me."

I peeked sideways at her. She wasn't looking at me; instead her gaze was trained out of the front window.

"Kim?" Did she not believe me? She had to. Did she think I was just some controlling guy who would never let her do anything?

"Oh." After a few seconds it seemed like that was the only reply I was going to get, and I tried to concentrate on the road, rather then the amazing girl next to me.

When we arrived at Sam's house she made no move at first to get out of the car. I walked round to her side and opened her door for her. Slowly, she climbed out and stared at the front door.

I reached down and took her hand in both of mine. She looked at me with wide eyes. "Paul won't want to talk to me, will he?" it didn't sound like a question, more like a statement.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." She laughed, thinking I was joking, she had no idea how truthful my words were.

We walked, hand in hand, Sam's house. We were five steps away when the door opened. Paul and Sam both burst outside followed by a smiling Emily. Paul was laughing, "Hi Kim."

Kim was staring at the floor when she answered, "Hello." Protectively, I wrapped an arm around her waist without thinking.

Paul turned to me with a silly grin on his face. He punched me in the arm playfully, but still hard enough to send me, and Kim both rocking.

"Hey watch it." I snapped, tightening my hold on Kim.

"Paul!" Emily scolded, but with the motherly smile lingering on her lips. She turned to Kim, "Why don't you come inside?"

Kim hesitated, obviously uncomfortable. I answered for her, "Thanks Emily." I walked past Sam, pulling Kim with me. We walked into the tiny front room and sat on the couch, while Sam and Paul stood and Emily took a chair from the kitchen table.

I could feel Kim still tense beside me. Her nervousness was making me uneasy. Whenever she felt uncomfortable, so did I. It was like we were connected, the two of us. When one did something, the other mirrored it, felt it.

Paul still had the stupid smile on his face. I wasn't sure why it was there, but I wanted to wipe it right off.

Emily started the conversation. She quizzed Kim on her likes and dislikes. She answered them shyly at first, just like she had done with me. Paul left the room after a while, and the atmosphere seemed to lighten. Kim answered the questions then with much more enthusiasm and Emily obviously loved her. She invited us both for dinner.

Emily walked into the adjoining kitchen and Sam followed. Me, and Kim both looked away at the same time, when Sam stood next to Emily and wrapped his arms around her.

We were almost alone and gazing at each other. She whispered quietly, "Do you think they liked me?" I could see the worry in her eyes.

"Of course they did." I smiled and leaned forward to kiss her. I paused, glancing over her head to check if Emily and Sam were watching. I laughed. Neither of us had noticed, but they must have left the room at some point.

She giggled and I caught my breath at the happy, beautiful sound. I looked down at her and saw her beautiful smiling face, smiling at me! I had done nothing to deserve her. I knew that, and she wanted me too. The idea was too amazing for me to understand. I felt goose bumps erupt on my arms, and I felt shivers down my spine. I leaned forward again; suddenly I heard a noise behind me.

I turned angrily, to see Paul casually leaning against the wall.

"What do you want?"

Paul's eyes gleamed as he sensed my annoyance, and his grin spread wider across his face. His eyes widened, as he looked from me to Kim. And I knew what he was saying silently. When we were wolves we could hear each other's thoughts. I couldn't hear his now, but I didn't need to. He was silently making fun of her.

My body tensed and shook.

He smiled even wider and started to voice his opinions. "Kim-"

I stood and took a step forward and I didn't want to stop. I wanted to pull Paul apart. I wanted him to understand what Kim was like. I wanted him to know her for the kind, caring person she was. Not the shy, timid girl she turned into whenever Paul was around.

At some point in the short distance between me, and Paul, Kim had stood and come to stand in-between us.

"Jared…" she whispered, and I tried to force myself to calm down. She could get hurt. But I wasn't responding to her words and I reached down to push her out of the way. If I were going to phase, Paul would stand a better chance against me then she would.

But she stood her ground and refused to move out of my way. Gently she reached up and stroked my cheek. "Please calm down." She was still whispering and I could hear the terror behind her voice. I had to stop scaring her like this.

And for a moment I forgot that we weren't the only people in the room. Hell, I forgot that we weren't the only two people in the world. I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers.

Paul, clearing his throat loudly, interrupted us. I reached down and took Kim's wrists in my hands. There was no chance of me phasing now.

I turned to Paul. And I let anger colour my voice. Add an edge to it that wouldn't normally have been there. Kim gasped at the words that came out of my mouth.

I let loose a long string of profanities and swear words. Honestly, I didn't mean to say anything. I loved Kim so much, I wanted to defend her so badly, and I didn't even pay attention to what I was saying. All I wanted to do was hurt Paul as much as I could, without touching him. I didn't realise how badly he would take it.

Paul's body shook and he fell down to his knees in effort to stop himself from phasing. Uh-oh. I dragged Kim behind me and forced her against the wall.

"Sam!" I yelled, Paul needed to calm down and normally it would be my job to help him.

"What's wrong with Paul?" I heard Kim's terrified whisper in my ear. How was I so stupid? How could I have put her in so much danger? I pushed her further behind me, until we reached the back door.

Sam burst through it after hearing me shout.

"What's going on?" he looked round the room, seeing me, protectively standing in front of Kim and then he saw Paul. Paul was clutching his hands to the side of his head and vibrating so fast he was almost a blur.

I had to give Paul credit. He was trying so hard not to phase so that Kim wouldn't get hurt, and I suppose I would have to be grateful to him for that.

"What did you do?" came Sam's accusation.

I childishly shouted back "he started it."

Sam gave me a disbelieving look, "You shouldn't have said anything back to him."

Then he turned to Paul, "take it easy, alright man, Kim could get hurt."

I felt Kim shiver behind me and I pressed myself closer to her. I turned slightly, but kept my eyes on Paul. I whispered in a reassuring tone "You're safe with me Kim, you'll be alright." I could only hope that she believed me.

Then I turned my attention back towards Paul, "Paul, just get a grip." I knew at the time that this was the wrong thing to say, but I was still so mad at him and I also knew that I would regret it, because me saying that was the thing that sent Paul over the edge.

It took Paul less than a second for him to phase and for once I was scared. Not for myself, but for Kim.

Paul exploded own of his own skin and the wolf that now crouched in his place let out a growl, his eyes on me.

Kim let out a scream, and I clamped a hand down on her mouth. I turned and almost threw her outside. I pulled her against the wall, with my hand still in place. I could feel her trembling and wanted to comfort her, but I had to make her safe first.

I stood watching the door shielding Kim with my shoulder. After a very short time Paul, still in wolf form, burst out of the room, and ran for the forest with Sam, who was a slightly larger, black wolf close on his heels.

I stood motionless for a few moments before turning back to face Kim. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide in shock.

"Kim?" her eyes flickered to me and I saw something in them that I couldn't be sure of. Fear? Anger? "Are you alright?"

She didn't answer me. She couldn't. After a few seconds of standing there in shock, her knees buckled, and I caught her before she could hit the ground. She was gasping for breath and sobbing. I pulled her gently into my lap, stroking her hair soothingly. At first she was unresponsive and I worried that she was afraid of me too. But then her hands moved to the front of my shirt and she pulled herself closer to me.

We stayed like that for a while, until I heard Emily running towards us. I stood slowly pulling Kim up with me.

"Jared, what's going on?" she looked at Kim whose sobs had stopped, but whose eyes were still red. "Where are Sam and Paul?"

I wrapped my arms protectively around Kim's shoulders before answering, trying to keep my voice calm. "Paul phased, the two of them ran into the woods. They'll be staying there until Paul can calm down."

Emily's face showed shock and then understanding as she looked at Kim's trembling form. Then her eyes snapped looked me, and her voice turned angry, "did you not tell her?"

I ignored Emily for a moment and picked Kim up; afraid her own legs wouldn't be able to support her. Then I carried her inside the house and placed her gently on the couch. I looked round at Emily who had followed us inside.

"Of course I told her, but she acted just like you did. She didn't believe anything I said."

"Jared." I heard Kim's voice and turned my attention back to her. I scanned her face quickly; she seemed to have recovered from the shock at least. "You were telling the truth." Her voice was quiet and disbelieving. Her eyes were darting across my face, like she was looking for some sign that she was crazy.

I nodded and she didn't seem scared. She looked like she just understood something that she had thought to be impossible.

She took deep breaths and struggled to sit up. I slipped my arms round her waist to help her. "You're a werewolf." She spoke the words carefully trying to make sense of them. "Right?"

I nodded again and she closed her eyes before leaning her head back against the couch.

"Kim?" she opened one eye to look at me. "Are you alright?" she knew I wasn't just asking her if she was over the shock. I was asking her if she all right with what I was. I wasn't human, and I didn't know if she would be able to love me the same way. But her answer surprised me.

"I'm fine." I stared at her. Looking for some trace of a lie. But I could find none in her eyes.

I looked over at Emily. She was watching us, but then smiled and left the room.

I waited until the door was closed. "Are you sure?"

She smiled at my insecurity and reached out with one finger to stroke my cheek. "Of course."

I gazed down at her she was truly amazing. How could she be so calm after what she had just witnessed?

"Are you sure?" I repeated. "You don't mind that I'm… I'm not fully human?"

She shook her head and reached out with her hands to pull me on the couch next to her. "I love you Jared." She spoke the words slowly, like she was trying to make me understand them.

I reached over and pulled her to me, kissing her hair softly. I stroked her back soothingly and whispered in her ear. "Weren't you scared? When Paul phased?"

She pulled back to look at my face. "I was never scared."

I stared at her. She had to be lying, but she didn't seem to be. "What do you mean? You must have been scared. Paul turned into a werewolf right in front of you and you weren't scared?"

She shook her head again, smiling. "I'm never scared when I'm with you."

**I hoped you liked this chapter guys! And please remember to review! Seriously it takes me like two hours to write this and you only a minute to review! :)**

**And if you've read this far, thanks for reading!**


	8. Misunderstanding

**I'm sorry this chapter took so long to write. I had writers block and then I had an idea for a story about Embry, called "Falling For A Stranger" which is now up. And in my opinion is one of the best things I have ever written! So everybody go look at that! And I had 16 reviews for the last chapter, amazing! Thank you to everyone!**

* * *

She trusted me. It took a few moments for that to sink in, but she did. She wasn't afraid of me and trusted me. Not even Paul phasing, which, surely, should have sent her running, screaming and should have scared her more than anything else could. Not even her knowing what I was. She sat perfectly still with a smile lighting up her face. I breathed out slowly, relieved. She leaned forward to rest her head on my chest, and I twisted to bury my face in her hair.

We stayed like that for a while, waiting silently. We were waiting for any sign of Paul and Sam's return. I was listening for the sound of their footsteps, or any noise at all. But mostly we were just enjoying being together.

I heard footsteps coming closer and I knew that they were Sam and Emily's. I unwillingly shifted Kim, so we were still sitting beside each other but no longer touching. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

I glanced at her, confused by her tone of voice, but then realised how much better my hearing was then hers. I leaned closer to say, quietly, "Sam and Emily are coming back." Understanding filled her eyes and she leaned over to hold my hand.

We waited in silence until Sam and Emily waked in and I noticed Sam was standing a little farther back then Emily. And I was grateful. He didn't want to scare her.

"Where's Paul?" I asked.

"He's gone back to his place." Sam paused before he continued; "he wants to talk to you later."

Everyone's eyes were on me, waiting for my reaction. I kept my expression calm, and I nodded. I felt Kim relax beside me, I hadn't realised she had been so tense and I squeezed her hand gently, reassuringly.

"Kim? Would you mind helping me set the table?" Emily asked and Kim stood up immediately. Emily threw Sam a look I didn't understand. She caught me staring and smiled, innocently. I felt my eyes narrow, reflectively, I turned and felt them widen as I watched Kim pull plates out of a cupboard.

"Jared, can I talk with you?" I looked away from Kim, and turned to Sam.

"Sure."

We both stood at the same time and walked out of the room into a tiny hallway. And Sam stood across from me he wasn't smiling. I returned the scowl, defiantly, until I became bored of it, "what's up with you?"

Sam raised his eyebrows at me, "I know what you said to Paul."

I raised my eyebrows back, "so what?"

Sam's eyebrows crawled even higher up his forehead, "What the hell were you thinking? You know how he gets, it was your fault Kim was in danger, not his. You don't even know what he was going to say to her before you cut him off. You should start thinking about the things you do." I listened to Sam, carefully, detecting the menace in his voice.

"What do you mean I don't know what he was going to say to her? He wasn't going to say anything to her; he was going to talk about her. Right in front of her, don't tell me I'm wrong, I've know Paul for too long and I could tell he was going to make fun of her."

Sam was shaking his head before I had even finished speaking. "You're wrong." I started to talk, but he cut me off. "He wasn't going to make fun of her, he was going to make fun of you!"

I stared at him, "huh?"

Sam laughed at my expression, "yup, he had some embarrassing stuff all lined up to tell her, he'd stayed up all night trying to remember everything. And you were right about one thing, you have known Paul for too long, because he sure does have a lot of stories ready to tell Kim."

"Oops." I shook my head and stared at the floor. "Sorry."

Sam sighed and leaned against the opposite wall grinning, "Maybe you should tell that to Paul."

I glared up at him, "what's so funny?"

He pressed his lips together to keep himself from laughing, "nothing. Just you. Turning into an overprotective caveman. You should know that kind of behaviour isn't going to get you anywhere."

I scowled and felt terrible. Was it my fault Kim was put in danger? How could I have been so reckless to let her be put in harms way? I turned into the front room, I would have to make it up to her later. Emily and Kim were in the kitchen. Emily was leaning over clutching her sides, laughing. Kim was in a similar state, but was clutching the counter to keep herself from falling over.

"What are you two laughing at?" Sam's voice came from behind me and they both looked up. When they saw us they broke into another set of giggles. Me, and Sam glanced at each other. We both started to crack up. Seeing Kim happy made me happy too, and seeing her laugh made the world somehow look clearer.

Emily placed the large bowl of meatballs in the middle of the table. Me, and Sam immediately loaded up our plates so they were full. I heard Kim giggle. She was staring at the vast pile of food on my plate. "Are you going to eat all that?" she enquired.

I raised an eyebrow and with a very serious expression said, "of course. Why wouldn't I?"

She smiled and shrugged. I laughed and the two of us sat opposite Emily and Sam. We all talked with each other and the conversations were kept light, deliberately staying away from anything to do with Paul or werewolves. I could talk to Kim about everything later. We had all the time in the world. But everything turned around when Emily, innocently, asked Kim about her family. Kim instantly clammed up.

"Really Emily, I can't tell you anything about them. They aren't exactly interesting." I heard the faint hysteria in her voice. I made eye contact with Sam and Emily and could tell from the look on both their faces, they could hear it too.

I needed to talk with Kim. Soon. I had completely forgotten about her father, and what I had learnt about him earlier. I felt awful for that. Kim was my life, the most important thing, and I had forgotten about the bruises and her insecurity, both of which were caused by her father. A man who should have taken care of her while she was growing up. Raised her and protected her. But instead had hurt her, inside and out. And I had completely forgotten.

Me, and Kim said our goodbyes to Sam and Emily quickly. She seemed to understand that I wanted to talk to her and didn't say anything when I told Sam and Emily that we had plans. I held the car door open for her and drove us to the beach. We sat on a bench and didn't speak for a minute.

"Kim?" she looked across at me. "Are you ever afraid?"

She looked at me. "I told you." She grinned playfully. "I'm never scared when I'm with you."

I shook my head. Despite the happiness I felt when she said that, it wasn't the answer I was looking for. "No I mean are you ever afraid? When I'm not with you?"

She bit her lip and looked away. Gently, I held her chin and turned her face towards me. I tried not to get lost in her eyes as I spoke. "Tell me."

I saw the tears in her eyes before they filled up and ran down her cheeks. "Sometimes." Her voice was quiet, but I was glad she was going to tell me the truth.

"When are you afraid?"

I saw the tears on her eyelashes. "When _he's_ angry with me."

I nodded keeping my face calm. I moved my hand to her cheek and stroked her face with my thumb. I pulled her closer with my free arm and held her. She would never feel afraid again.

She pulled away after far too short a time and looked into my eyes carefully, she was trying to work something out.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You're a werewolf." She looked now like she had accepted it, and was just genuinely interested in something.

"Yeah, I know." I smiled

She rolled her eyes at me. "Have you always been a werewolf?"

I reached out and wiped away the tears that were still lingering on her face. "No."

"How long have you been one? How did you become one? Why are you one?" I looked at her and could see only curiosity; she was acting like she had already forgotten our earlier conversation.

I sighed before answering. "I wasn't at school all last week. I wasn't ill like I told you, I'm sorry for lying, but I had just phased into a werewolf for the first time. I had come in late, I can't remember the details, but something my mom said made me angry. I remember thinking I was going mad. I was turning inside out. I ran outside and into the woods. After a few minutes a heard voices in my head, Sam and Paul's. They're good guys really, they are, they helped me through everything. Told me what was happening. But I just couldn't calm down. It took me a week to get back to my normal self."

I stopped and looked at her face. There wasn't much emotion there, and I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"So… will this happen to you every full moon?"

I laughed. "Nope. Paul phased before because he was angry. Not all legends are true."

"Why are you a werewolf?"

I sighed. "Why do you want to know so much about all this anyway?" She shrugged and wouldn't look at me. "Kim?"

"Jared, can we head back to my place?" she desperately didn't want to answer me and I didn't want to make her do anything she didn't want to. So I nodded and opened her door for her.

When we arrived she walked in through the door and into the kitchen. She started pulling ingredients out of the cupboards.

"I'm not hungry." I said quickly, even though I was, but it wasn't too bad.

She gazed up at me and smiled. I felt my heart skip a beat. "This isn't for you."

"Oh." I felt my eyebrows pull together in confusion. She hadn't eaten as much as me at Sam's place, but she didn't need to. Surely she couldn't be hungry already? She giggled.

"It's for my dad."

I watched her while she worked. I had already memorised her movements, but I couldn't look away. "Do you always cook for your dad?"

She turned to me and nodded, keeping her eyes on mine. "Why?"

"No reason."

She turned away again, to watch the pasta cook and that's when I heard the slamming of a car door. "Kim, I think your dad's back."

She spun round on her heels. "What!"

"Your dads home." I stood up and walked to her. She was obviously worried and I wanted to help her. "What should I do?"

She bit her lip. "I don't think you should be here."

I nodded. "I'll stay outside."

"No." she was shaking her head frantically. "I think you should leave. Go back to your house and come back in the morning."

"I'm not leaving you on your own with him."

"You have to. You can't be anywhere near here, please just leave." Her eyes were wild. She was scared.

"I'm staying right outside the house." My voice was firm, not to be argued with.

She rubbed her eyes so she wouldn't cry. "Alright, but please don't come in."

"Fine." And I spun round and out of the back door. If there was any sign of trouble, I was going straight back on that promise. It would only become a lie if he hurt her. But when I was out of the door... I was always on edge when I couldn't see her, but this was torture. My ears were strained as I listened. I could hear the man moving downstairs, but Kim wasn't there. She must have been in another room.

After ten minutes I heard a car door slam again and I figured Kim's dad must have gone out again. So I walked up to the door and opened it. Kim was stood, not far away, and smiling at me.

"I bet you were worried." I crossed the distance in one stride and pulled her into my arms.

"Are you alright?" I whispered into her ear. I stroked her hair and crushed her to me. I was never letting her go again.

"I'm fine. You worry too much." She started pulling away, but I wasn't going to let her. She giggled and wrapped her arms around my waist. "He didn't even see me, I was upstairs."

"I couldn't hear anything from outside. I had no idea what was going on. For all I knew you could have been… could have been…" I couldn't finish the sentence. And I felt her stiffen in my arms. She started to pull away again, so I tightened my arms around her.

"What's wrong Jared?" she asked me playfully.

"Nothing." Her hair muffled the sound.

"Were you scared?"

"Yes." I admitted.

"Why?" she seemed genuinely surprised at my answer.

I pulled away so I could look into her eyes. "I love you and I didn't know what was happening to you, if you were safe or if you were hurt. I didn't know. And that scared me."

Her eyes were wide; she stretched up on her toes to kiss me. I felt goose bumps on my arms and the butterflies in my stomach; they could bring me to my knees. I felt the galaxy start to melt. As the kiss deepened, I began to get lost in the mess of her hair and my world was on fire. Burning.

She pulled away too soon, and I could feel the silly grin on my face. She giggled and led me into the front room where we sat on her couch and I played with her fingers. She was quiet for a long time; I thought she must have fallen asleep. I picked her up gently and her eyes snapped open. "What are you doing?"

"I thought you were asleep."

"Well, I'm not."

"I can see that."

"Erm… you can put me down now." I laughed and laid her on the cushions. She yawned and then seemed to be struck with a sudden idea.

"Wait… you said you love me."

I smiled, "I do."

She frowned, and moved so she was sitting up. I adored the way he carried herself, with the grace that an angel could not compare to.

"Why?"

I knelt on the floor in front of her. "What do you mean?"

"Before you became… a werewolf you had never even spoken to me. Now you say that you love me. And I know you love me Jared, I can see it in your eyes, but… why did you love me when you came back?"

I nodded. And wondered how I was going to answer her. "Well… there's this thing called imprinting-"

"What's that?" She cut me off and I laughed.

"It's kind of like love at first sight. The first time I saw you after I had become a werewolf I fell in love with you. That's the only reason why all this happened. I kind of had no choice." I grinned at her, but she wasn't smiling.

"You had no choice?" her face was serious and I could see hurt in her eyes. Slowly I realised how that must have sounded.

"No, I didn't mean it like that-"

I stopped when tears started rolling down her cheeks. I was the cause of her pain. I grabbed her wrists quickly and pulled her face to look at me. She shook me off and stood up, glaring.

"You wouldn't love me if you weren't a werewolf, would you?" I tried to speak but she cut me off again. "Jared, you didn't love me before, and you only do now because you have no choice."

I stood up so I could talk to her properly. "Kim, you don't understand."

"Then explain." I reached out to brush the tears from her cheeks, but she batted my hand away. I chewed on my lip. Everything I did was wrong. I wasn't good enough for her. I couldn't even explain how I felt. I took a step back, hoping that I looked like I wasn't trying to pressure her and I held up my hands like a captured criminal.

"It came out wrong. I didn't mean that I had no choice. I just meant that…" I didn't know how to explain. And Kim looked at me with such pain in her eyes that I couldn't think. I reached forward to hold her. I wanted the hurt that I saw there to vanish. But she backed away from me.

"Please leave, Jared." She spoke so quietly I wasn't sure if I had heard her correctly. "Jared, will you please leave me alone."

I stood in front of her. I was numb. She wanted me to leave. I walked slowly out of her door with her watching me, and I saw her close it. But it was a few moments before I felt the pain. Hurriedly I ripped off my shoes and started running towards the forest, I needed to talk with Sam.

**Please review! And remember to check out my other story and vote on my poll!**


	9. Running

**thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter. if i knew you i woud attack you all with happiness. and the two of you i do know, watch out! lol, jk! **

I phased as soon as I reached the woods. This numbness wasn't as bad as the pain I had felt before. When I had first told Kim what I was, she hadn't believed a word I had said and that had been terrible. But now all of this was my fault, she was hurting now because I hadn't thought about what I was going to say. I ran to Sam's house and crouched in the back garden, hiding from view if anyone was watching. After a few moments Emily came out of the house with a watering can, I came closer to her, so I was no longer under the cover of the trees. She looked up and gave a start, water flying everywhere. Upon recognising me she smiled, and hurried back inside. A few moments later Sam walked out, already pulling off his shoes. I looked away and waited for him to phase.

_What's_ _wrong,_ _Jared?_ Sam's voice echoed in my head, and I didn't bother waiting for any further encouragement. I relayed all my memories of what had happened yesterday and today in my head, and Sam listened to them, patiently. Sam was a good audience and he didn't judge me.

_Look, you know how you made that sound right?_

Yes, and I'm sorry, it just came out wrong.

_Leave her too cool down. She might still be angry, go back and see her before school tomorrow._

Tomorrow? But you know what her dad is like, what if he hurts her?

_He didn't hurt her when he went back today, so he probably hasn't had anything to drink. Go home and see your mom, she'll want to know all about Kim._

What did you say to her?

_Just that Kim is a really nice girl. I figured you should fill her in on the rest._

Do you think Kim will be OK if I leave her tonight?

_Sure. I'll get you some clothes._

He turned and ran back inside his house, squeezing through the door. He came back outside after a minute, carrying clothes and he dumped them on the ground, before turning back inside. I phased back into a human and dressed, but I didn't go back inside immediately. I stood in the back garden, pacing. Should I take Sam's advice? Or should I go back to Kim and try to explain everything? I really didn't want her alone with her dad. After dithering for a few moments, I walked inside Sam's house. Sam was talking with Emily, their heads were close together and I knew what they were talking about. Emily turned to me; her eyes were wide and filled with concern. I tried to ignore them and I looked away as I spoke.

"Sam, I think I'm going to head home, I'll let Kim calm down before I go round tomorrow."

Sam nodded, and I walked out the door. When my feet reached the pavement I started running. The sooner I got home, the sooner I could take a shower and I was hoping that would make me feel better.

My house was empty when I got there. I looked in the cupboards and they were bare, my mom must have gone shopping. I took a shower. And it didn't make me feel better. So I sat on the couch waiting for my mom to come home. She was taking a while, so I didn't have anything to distract me from the misery that was threatening to engulf me. I curled up on the couch and tried not to cry. I didn't normally. I wasn't the kind of guy that would cry about anything. I couldn't remember the last time I had cried, before yesterday I mean.

I heard my mom walk in through the door; she was struggling to carry all the plastic bags. I leapt up; thankfully my cheeks were dry and went to help her. "Jared!" she cried when she saw me. "You're back. Where's Kim. I want to meet my only son's girlfriend." She dropped all the bags on the floor and looked round wildly, searching.

I rolled my eyes, "she's not here mom, relax. And aren't you happy to see me?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Why isn't she here? Where is she?"

"At her place, you will probably meet her tomorrow." And she would, as long as I could say the right things to Kim.

"Fine." My mom snapped, then she smiled and walked over to me. I was caught by surprise when she flung her arms around me and hugged me. "I'm so proud of you Jared. You're in love. I'm so happy. She'll make you so happy too, and I'm sure you're going to do exactly the same for her."

I patted my mom's back awkwardly, "Erm, thanks."

She laughed. "Are you hungry? I'll put the chicken in the oven."

I helped her carry everything through into the kitchen and then put the things away in the cupboards. I sat at the table in silence and she didn't try and talk to me. Perhaps she sensed that I wanted to be alone. So I was free to think. Think about what I would say to Kim. I hoped it would be easy. To get her to see things how I did, but I knew it wouldn't be.

"It's ready." My mom brought me out of my thoughts and I realised then how hungry I was. I ate ravenously and most of the chicken was on my plate before my mom sat down. When I had finished I wasn't full, but I stood and started cleaning my plate anyway.

"Mom, I'm going to bed and I'll probably be out before you wake up tomorrow, OK?"

She nodded and watched me leave the room. My mom wouldn't be worried and she wouldn't know how early I would be out, she always slept in late.

I curled up in my bed, not bothering to get changed, and waited for sleep to claim me. It didn't come not for a while, and I dreamt uneasy dreams, dreams in which Kim ran from me crying. I tried to follow her, to comfort her, but it was hard to see her. She kept running round trees and ducking under foliage. I knew that if I phased I would be able to reach her, but I couldn't, she wouldn't be safe. Finally, I could stand it no longer and I phased into the big brown werewolf that could catch up so much faster. We were running in a straight line, I was building speed and gaining on her, she turned around to face me, coming to an abrupt halt. And I couldn't stop. The momentum I had gained was too great and one of my paws was flung out in front of me. My claws met Kim's face and I tried to pull away. But I was too late, blood ran down her face, and she fell to the floor.

I woke with a start, and was gasping for air. I could see Kim's face like it was etched into my eyes. She was looking up at me with something in her eyes that broke me. Not just my heart, but also my soul, because she was a part of me and always would be. And that was what I had to convince her.

I rolled off my bed and changed my clothes, before glancing at the clock on the wall. It was 4:00am, too early to go see Kim, so I had to find something to do to waste time. I tried no to think about her, but that proved impossible, so instead I tried to work out what I would say. Two hours later I had the strangest feeling, something was happening, something bad. And I knew it was happening to Kim. I don't know how to explain what I felt, just something.

I set off at a run. I could have asked Sam if I could have borrowed his car, but I didn't think about that until later. When I was close to Kim's street, a black car drove past, but I barely even noticed, I just carried on running.

I knocked quietly on Kim's front door, but there was no answer. So I knocked again and there was still no answer. I hesitated for a second before I tried the door. It was unlocked and swung right open. The house was quiet. I didn't know where Kim was, so I took a guess and headed up the stairs. Kim's door was closed, so I knocked and pressed my ear up against it. There was a faint scuffling coming from inside.

"Kim?" I heard no answer, so I reached out and walked inside. Kim was cowering in a corner. Her body was turned away, her face hidden. I could tell she was obviously afraid, and that hurt me. "Kim it's me, you don't have to be scared." I hoped she would listen and still believe me.

"Jared?" Her voice sounded strange and I wanted to hold her, but I didn't. She turned to look at me, and I let out a gasp before running to her.

**ok, this chapter is really short, but i wanted to post something today! and some of the 51 people who have this story on alert are getting lost! to review, you should click on the button in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. ok? please review, it only takes you 5 minutes! can anyone guess what's wrong with Kim? Please vote on my poll! :)**


	10. Bleeding

**I am dedicating this chapter to iLuvMe21, who was my hundredth reviewer!! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I had over 20 reviews!! OME! That is amazing! I love all of you! And to celebrate getting so many reviews, I typed this chapter extra quick! And Adabellacullen (spelt right?) I'm not ignoring you, I think I messed up the Internet on my computer, when I was trying to fix a problem, and now I can't do a load of things on it. But I am getting my cousin, who is a genius, to fix it, but he lives in Lincolnshire and I live in Yorkshire, so I hardly ever see anyone from that part of my family, and they will be here in a few days, so just hang on until then, and please don't hate me! I know how horrible I must seem, I'm so, so sorry!!**

I crouched down in front of her and held her face in my hand. She gazed up at me; her eyes were wide and shining. And they were filled with fear. She cowered and tried to pull away, and for once I didn't care if it was me she was afraid of. Her beautiful face was bruised, and there was blood streaming from her nose. I glanced over her quickly, she didn't seem to be hurt anywhere else. I picked her up gently, incredibly careful, I didn't want to hurt her more than she already had been.

I carried her down the stairs, and she wasn't resisting me. When we reached the kitchen, I perched her on the counter. "Kim? Everything's going to be OK." She looked at me and nodded, she seemed to believe me. I took a breath and moved her so she was sitting up straight with her head tipped forward slightly. I turned on the faucet and washed away most of the blood. Her face was pasty white underneath the bruising. I knew who had done this and I knew it was all my fault. But I couldn't dwell on how much I hated myself at this moment. The blood was still coming, so I took her hand and made her pinch her own nose, just underneath the bridge. "Hold your hand there." I told her, before running to the freezer. I had to move quickly with the ice pack, my burning hands would melt it. I held it to the back of her neck and she shivered and tried to pull away. I whispered, "it's OK" I wrapped my free arm around her and held her still.

After five minutes I pulled her hand away from her nose. Blood was still dripping, this worried me slightly, but I had to keep a clear head I didn't want Kim to be worried by my reaction. I ran to the freezer again and put the ice pack back. Once I was next to her again, I held the bridge of her nose, this time for ten minutes, keeping my eyes trained on the clock above her head.

I let go of her nose again and looked at her. Her face was even paler then before, and she was still bleeding. I swore quietly and Kim looked at me, "what's wrong?" she asked. I could barely hear her, and her voice sounded strange.

I shook my head and picked her up. I carried her, crushing her to me protectively, out to her car. I placed her gently in the passenger seat and buckled her in. I was amazed she didn't try to argue with me, or say anything; I guessed she was still in shock. I didn't speak to her on the way to the hospital. I didn't think I could say anything to make the situation better. My voice would probably break anyway.

"Where are we going?"

I heard Kim speak, and I decided on telling her the truth. "The hospital." I glanced in her direction and saw her nod.

"Why?" she asked.

I took a deep breath before answering. "Because after at least 15 minutes your nose didn't stop bleeding. And I need to know, did you fall before your nose started bleeding?"

"Why?" she repeated.

"Because that could be a sign of internal bleeding."

She shook her head. And I let out a breath that I didn't even know I had been holding.

"We're going to see what the doctors can do to help you."

We both remained silent for the remainder of the journey. When we reached the hospital I ran round to her door before she could open it herself. And I carried her inside. She protested at first, "you'll get blood on you shirt."

"There's blood on my shirt anyway and it doesn't matter."

I looked at her, she was staring at me, and her mouth was open at first until a trickle of blood ran down into her mouth, causing her to gag. She wiped her mouth on a tissue she'd had in her pocket, and when she had finished she gazed up at me again. "What's wrong?" I asked her. But she shook her head. I carried her to the receptionist who looked surprised when she saw me carrying Kim but then waved us both down another corridor. We were told to sit in a room. And we waited sitting on the bed next to each other.

It was then that I smelt it. I caught a scent of something that made me want to rip and tear, a scent that burned my nose. My instincts told me to phase. Right now. But I wouldn't let myself; I had to stay in control. But my body shook slightly. I looked down at Kim and saw her face. "Calm down." I whispered to myself.

I knew what that scent was. A vampire was in the hospital. Carlisle Cullen. I had completely forgotten, in my haste to get Kim here, that a vampire worked here.

"What's wrong?" Kim asked. I fought to control my expression to try and fool her.

"Nothing."

But she didn't look convinced. The scent had gone, but how could I have been so stupid. I had just brought Kim into one of the worst dangerd imaginable, I tried to keep myself calm. Hopefully we would be out of here before anything bad happened. We waited for ten minutes until a doctor came into the room. This doctor was human, but I was still on edge, I didn't want to let go of her. But I stood anyway, against the wall opposite Kim.

The doctor spent a few minutes examining Kim's nose and the bruisng around it. "OK, before I deal with this, would it be all right if I could ask you a few questions?" the doctor was new, and was acting so hard to sound casual, his words sounded way too rehearsed. Kim nodded. "How did your nose bleed start?"

Kim's answer was automatic, "I ran into a door."

"Huh. That doesn't sound right." The doctor didn't sound convinced. And turned to give me a stare that showed me he didn't believe her, and he thought he knew exactly how her nosebleed had started. He thought I must have had something to do with it.

I growled and my body started to shake angrily. The doctor looked at me, as if my actions were confirming what he had thought already.

"Jared." I heard Kim's voice sound annoyed. "Calm down." I responded automatically to her words and the shaking stopped. "Go and call Sam."

I paused. Not sure if I had heard her correctly. "What?"

"Go and call Sam." She repeated. "Tell him where you are or something."

I dithered for a second. I wasn't sure if she really wanted me to call him, or if she just wanted me out of the room so I didn't phase. "I'll be right back." I promised. And decided to go and call Sam anyway.

I dialled Sam's number and waited for him to pick up. He sounded sad when he answered. "Jared?"

"Yeah, it's me. I'm at the hospital with Kim. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Why are you at the hospital? You do know that a vampire works there? Right? Get out of there." Sam's voice sounded worried.

"I can't. I need them to stop Kim's nose from bleeding. I was getting really worried. And then this doctor came in and practically suggested that it was me who had hurt her. And then I nearly phased. And then Kim told me to call you." I was talking really fast to try and get the words out; I wanted to get back to Kim.

"Right. How did Kim get hurt anyway?"

I growled and placed my free hand on the wall in effort. My entire body was shaking again. It was worse, now that I wasn't in the same room as Kim. Sam seemed to know something was going on. "Jared? What's wrong?"

I ignored him and concentrated on calming myself. It took me a few minutes, but eventually I managed it. I started talking to Sam again, "nothing-" but then I realised the line had been disconnected.

I walked back to Kim's room, my feet unsteady. Kim was sitting on a seat by the bed. Her nose was being held in cotton packs. I sat next to her. "How long does that need to stay on?"

"A few hours."

I nodded and watched her. She was shifting around in her seat. "What's wrong." Did she need anything? I would walk to the end of the earth to get it for her.

Her face turned up towards me. Her expression carefully controlled.

She took a deep breath before speaking. "When you said you didn't have a choice. When you said you had to love me. Did you mean… did you mean you don't want to? Did you mean if you had a choice, you would leave me?"

I shook my head, and leapt to my feet. I knelt in front of her and took her hands, pulling her round to face me again. I needed to explain this, and I needed to do it right. "Kim, you are the girl I imprinted on. You mean more to me than anything else. And after I've got to know you, I know now, you, and me are exactly right for each other. You are the person I would have loved anyway. Imprinting is kind of like natures way of just letting us know when we have found the right person. And I'm so sorry for how I made it sound yesterday. And I'm sorry for how I treated you before and-" I was going to carry on, but she pulled one of her hands out of mine and held a finger to my lips.

"It's alright. I think I overreacted. I had a really bad time without you there last night."

I smiled comforted slightly by her words, but then remembered the reason why we were here.

"Is your nose still hurting?"

"A little." She frowned, "but I think it's stopped bleeding."

"Good." And I grinned my first real smile, all day. "When we get out of here, I'm taking you to dinner." I announced, I was quite proud of myself.

"Why?" Kim's eyes were wide and she looked amused.

"Because I'm a very romantic, caring, brilliant person." I was talking fairly loud. And Kim giggled, before glancing at the door to check if anyone was coming in.

"Sure you are." She agreed sarcastically. I sniggered and she laughed with me.

"So, Where would you like to go?"

"Huh?" she looked confused. "Where would I like to go when?"

"For dinner?" my smile was widening over my face.

"What are we really going for dinner someplace?"

I laughed, "of course."

"Erm…" she though for a moment. "Some place in Port Angeles?"

"Sure." We would go wherever she liked.

A few hours later, we walked out of the hospital and I opened the car door for her. Her bleeding had stopped and the bruises didn't look so bad without blood on her face. We talked for the entire journey, staying clear from the subject of Kim's family; I could talk to her about that later. She was interested in my mother and father, so I told her all about them. I told her about my car, which was at the garage in Port Angeles. And we talked about pets that I'd had when I was younger.

"Where do you want to eat?" I waited for her answer.

She looked round, like she was looking for a sign or something. "I haven't been to Port Angeles for a while. Where do you think would be best?"

"Do you like Italian?"

She nodded eagerly.

"How about we go to the La Bella Italia?"

She nodded again, smiling.

I pulled up outside the restaurant and we walked inside. We were seated at a table that at least four people could have sat round comfortably. I grumbled about us not having any privacy, and she laughed. "It's fine, Jared."

When our waiter came, I ordered lasagne and she ordered a cheese pizza. We sat talking waiting for our food, we were both so engrossed in our conversation, we didn't even notice when the waiter came back. He had to clear his throat loudly to get our attention. Kim blushed furiously, whereas I kept myself looking calm. Kim glanced up at me, I smiled and her blush deepened. I smiled wider.

We sat in a comfortable silence whilst we ate. I watched her, and between each mouthful, I smiled.

We drove back to La Push, chattering. It wasn't until I pulled up outside my house, that I realised I had no idea where she was going to stay. She couldn't go back to her house, to her dad, I wouldn't let her.

"Kim, what are you going to do?"

She had been about to turn and let herself out, but she turned back to me and looked worried. "What do you mean?"

"You can't stay at your house. You have to get out of there, but where are you going to go?"

She narrowed her eyes and bit her lip, "why can't I stay at my own home? Why do I have to go anywhere else?"

I stared at her wide-eyed she couldn't be serious. "Kim, your dad hit you so hard this morning your nose wouldn't stop bleeding by itself and I had to take you to the hospital."

"So?"

"Kim, there is no way you're going back there." I was starting to get angry, and my hands shook.

She noticed and spoke very gently to me, "Jared, where else am I supposed to go?"

I thought for a moment. This wasn't something I had worked out yet. I calmed down and once I had stopped shaking inspiration hit me. "You could stay with me."

**OK, now I have a friend who wanted me to write a lemon. Should I listen to her? I don't really want to, so let me know in a review what everyone wants. OK? Please review, and please remember to vote on my poll!**


	11. Meeting My Mom

**OK, first thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys make me smile :) And people's thoughts on the lemon were pretty split but, I've decided not to do a lemon, because I don't think it really fits in with the story, and I didn't really want to write one anyway. Anyway I hope you like this chapter!**

Her eyes were wide as she thought over what I had just asked her. I noticed her mouth the words "stay with you." It was almost like I could see the cogs working in her brain, contemplating my words.

"For how long?" she wondered out loud.

"As long as you need." I said happily.

"Erm… alright. But my dad can't find out. And what will I tell him? He'll probably turn up at the school, he'll come looking for me." She bit on her lip anxiously.

"I'll protect you." I said, my eyes were wide, hopefully showing her she could trust me.

She sighed and her eyes softened, "I know you will."

I smiled. And her eyes grew very warm.

"Do you want to go to my place and meet my mom? Then we can come back and get your things."

She nodded eagerly, "sure. I'd like to meet your mom."

"And you'll get to know her easier this way. She'd probably be a little shocked if you turned up with your suitcase without even meeting her first."

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, she seemed to be thinking, hard. "Will your mom let me stay with you? Won't you have to ask her first?"

I grinned. "She'll be fine with it. And if she isn't I'll move out."

Her eyes brightened. "You'd leave your mom so you could be with me?"

I nodded. "I'd do anything to be with you."

She blushed and stared at me, and I stared right back. We sat in silence for a moment, just enjoying the fact that we were together. "So, do you want to meet my mom?"

She smiled, and I turned the car around, and drove the car to my home. I didn't park it in the driveway. I left it on the sidewalk instead. We walked over to my front door hand in hand, and I tried to ignore the buzz of electricity I felt whenever I touched her. My mom was in, we had just walked past her car, and I was surprised she hadn't ran outside yet and demanded to know Kim's favourite food so she could whip it up straight away.

I stopped her before we reached the door and paused with my hand on the knob. "Welcome." I said, dramatically. "To my home." And in one fluid movement, I flung the door wide open. I didn't get chance to see Kim's reaction. As soon as the door was open far enough so that she could see inside it, my mother shot out and enveloped Kim in a hug, so tight I was sure Kim would be having difficulty breathing. I could see her whispering something in Kim's ear and Kim started making a noise like she was choking. Instantly worried, I started prising my mom's arms off of Kim. When I saw her face again, I felt a strange sense of relief. She wasn't choking like I had suspected, but was instead laughing. That wasn't the only reason why I was relieved, I was comforted because I could see Kim's face again.

Kim pressed her hands over her mouth to try and stop the giggles. It didn't work. My mom shoved past me and hugged her again, then led her inside, leaving me standing in the doorway.

I followed them inside, slightly confused by what had happened outside. Kim sat on the couch while my mom walked into the kitchen.

"What was that all about?" I asked Kim, sitting down next to her.

She shook her head, " nothing, your mom was just letting me in on some very interesting pieces of information."

"What very interesting pieces of information?"

She pressed her lips together, "sorry, that's between me and your mom." I groaned and she laughed, amusement dancing in her eyes.

My mom came skipping out of the kitchen, and grabbed Kim's hand, pulling back in after her. Kim turned to face me, a smile on her lips, and reached out towards me with her free hand. I stood up and followed her, reaching towards her eagerly. Then I looked at my mother, who was deliberately ignoring me. "Mom, are you going to speak to me at all?"

"Huh?" my mom didn't even look at me, just carried on skipping.

I sighed and Kim laughed at the face I was pulling, she smiled at me. I felt my heart react to that, and it started beating ten times faster. Did she know the effect she had on me?

My mom pushed Kim into one of the chairs, and I took the one next to her, while keeping my eyes trained on her face. She looked at me too, not turning away, a smile was lighting up her face.

I heard a frying pan been clattered around, and I glanced up. My mom looked like she was trying too hard not to pay attention. I sniggered at her obvious way of reminding her that she was still in the room.

I turned my attention to the perfect girl beside me, and we locked into a stare again. My mom placed a plate in front of me and I realised that I'd almost forgot I was hungry.

My mom was watching us both throughout the meal and we paid her no attention until she started asking Kim questions. I knew she could see the bruise on Kim's face, but she paid them no attention. Most of them were easy, what are your favourite colours, food and drink. My mom was going to make sure she knew everything about her. And, luckily, the conversation stayed away from Kim's family.

When the phone rang and my mom answered it I could tell immediately that she was talking to Paul. My moms voice was bright and cheery and she laughed at something he said, before turning to me. "Paul wants to talk to you."

I sighed, "Well I don't want to talk to him."

My mom's eyes narrowed, "Jared." She hissed, "Don't be so mean. He's your friend, talk to him."

Grumbling incoherently, I stood and took the phone. I glanced at Kim, before walking out of the room, "What?" I asked, my voice menacing, as soon as I was out of earshot.

"Look I want to talk to you."

"Then talk."

I heard him groan. He was obviously not happy that I wasn't cooperating.

"You won't believe me unless we talk face to face."

"Fine, where are you?"

"Outside your house."

I walked to the window, peeked through the curtains and saw Paul's car parked just behind Kim's.

I hung up and walked out side. He climbed out of his car and walked to meet me halfway. I was happy to see that he looked uncomfortable. He shifted from one foot to the other nervously, and he was rubbing his hands together.

"Look." He said, while staring at the floor. "I'm really sorry that I put Kim in danger. I was stupid. And I'll understand if you never want to talk to me again. Well you'll have to, I mean we're family. So when we both phase, we'll have to talk. Only that's not talking its mind reading right? I mean I'll understand if Kim never wants to talk to me-"

He was rambling and I suppressed a laugh. "Paul I think you should apologise to Kim."

He looked up at me, surprised. "You're… you're not still mad at me?"

I frowned. "Not really. It was my fault anyway that Kim was in danger." I winced and tried to carry on talking, but that was when I really started feeling the guilt of what had happened. "It was my fault." I repeated in a whisper. I felt myself sink to the floor and I cradled my head in my hands. "And I'll never forgive myself." The words were muffled, but I knew Paul heard them. I heard him flop down on the floor next to me.

"Jared. It's not your fault. I wish I could control my anger better. You shouldn't blame yourself for everything that goes wrong in Kim's life. Sam told me everything."

My head snapped up. "What did he tell you?"

Paul's eyes were sad. "Just what's happening with Kim. What are you going to do about that?" Paul was genuinely concerned, and that made me feel a little happier, I was glad that they could both get along.

"I'm going to let her stay with me."

Paul raised his eyebrows. "And your mom's going to let you?"

I opened my mouth to answer before realising something. "I haven't asked her yet." I admitted. And Paul laughed.

"And what are you going to do about her dad?"

"I haven't thought about that." I admitted again. "What do you think I should do?"

Paul raised his eyebrows, like his answer was obvious. "Lock him up."

"Lock him up where?"

"Where do you think?" and he hit me over the head with his arm. "Sometimes I worry about you Jared. I think you're slow."

I shook once, before getting a grip on myself.

"So." Said Paul pleasantly. "Can I apologise to Kim?"

"Erm." I narrowed my eyes at his eagerness. "Sure."

We walked to the front door and he ran inside before I could. "Kim." I called.

"Yes?" her voice came from the kitchen and Paul bounced through the door.

"Kim." he yelled. And I ran after him and saw him catch her in a hug. "I'm sorry." He practically shouted down her ear. "I was stupid. I am stupid. And I'm so so sorry."

Kim's face was shocked, and I started moving forward to tell him to let her go. But then she started laughing. "It's OK. I forgive you."

"Good." Paul was still yelling and he swung her round. "Because if you hated me I would totally understand. So if you really want to you can."

"Well I'll remember that." Kim giggled.

Paul let her go and turned to talk to my mom, who was standing by the sink grinning. I walked to Kim. "You OK?"

She laughed "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You looked like you were having trouble breathing."

She laughed even harder. "I was. Paul did hug me really tightly, and the fact that he's so hot didn't help."

I started to answer, then stopped. What did she just say? I heard Paul and my mom burst into laughter and I turned to glare at them.

Kim blushed bright red. "I meant his temperature."

I sniggered and mussed her hair affectionately, before hugging her. We only hugged for a few seconds, or that was what I thought, but when Paul cleared his throat, and I looked at him, he raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm going to go, I'll see you guys later, tomorrow maybe?"

I nodded and my mom went to lock the door after him. "Do you think I should ask my mom if you can stay now?" I whispered.

I felt her nod, and I pulled away from her slightly, so I could talk to my mom more easily.

"Mom?"

She walked back into the room and smiled at me, and Kim in each other's arms. "What?"

I swallowed nervously before I started talking. "Kim needs to stay for a while. She can't go back to her place."

My mom blinked. "You want your girlfriend to move in?"

I nodded. "It doesn't have to be forever, just until she can find some other place to go."

"Why does she have to move in at all?" she was getting suspicious.

I closed my eyes and sighed slightly. "Kim, can you go sit in the other room please?"

She nodded and walked out quickly. She obviously didn't want to stay in the tense atmosphere. I closed the door behind her and turned to face my mom. "I know you saw the bruise's on her face."

I waited for my mom to acknowledge me. She nodded.

I moved closer so Kim wouldn't hear "Her father did that to her. I can't let her stay with him. If he did anything like that to her again, I don't think I could control myself. I'd kill him. I'd have to. And if he… if he did that to her…" my voice broke and I couldn't carry on. I let my face drop into my hands again. Once I could look up, I saw tears rolling down my mother's cheeks.

"Please mom. Please let her stay."

My mom nodded and hugged me silently.

"Thank you."

I turned and walked out into the front room. Kim was kneeling on the couch and running her fingers through her hair, nervously. Her head snapped up when she heard me enter. She saw my grin and knew what it meant. She jumped up and hugged me tightly. I pulled her to me swiftly, and then pulled away. "Let's go."

"Where?" and she pouted at the distance between us.

"We should get your things from your house. Unless you want us go to Port Angeles and buy you knew clothes? We could do that?"

"No. Don't spend money on me. My dad won't be in, we can get everything if we go now."

I drove us to the house and was surprised to see the sun was already setting. My days with Kim always seemed to pass by more quickly then anything else. And when I wasn't with her time seemed to slow down just too annoy me.

I opened a duffel bag and held it open as she threw handfuls of clothes in it. We laughed and joked about lots of things, mostly focusing on Paul's temper. I almost didn't notice the sound of the front door opening and closing again. Kim noticed me stiffen.

"What's wrong?" He eyes were wide and worried.

I turned slowly back to her and spoke the words carefully. I didn't want her to panic.

"Kim… I think your dad's back."

**Ok, I really hope you like this chaper. Anybody worried about what's going to happen? cough-review-cough! Please remember to vote on my poll! **


	12. Talking

**OK I am dedicating this chapter to Weasleygrlz07 because your review last chapter made me laugh so much I fell out of my chair!:) I have a weird sense of humour! And thank you to the few people who reviewed last chapter. I'm guessing not many people liked it since I didn't get many reviews. And this would have been updated sooner, but I had to go to the dentist and he said I may need braces. Gasp! And then the car nearly crashed on the way home because of the floods and stuff. Anyway hope you like the chapter...**

I saw her eyes widen and I crossed the room to her side and immediately placed my hands on her arms. I could see the blatant panic in her eyes and moved a hand to stroke her face, reassuringly. "It's alright." I whispered to her gently. I wouldn't let him hurt her, I needed to get us both out before he realised I was here and what was happening.

She shook her head frantically, terror palpable on her face. "We have to go now. He mustn't see you. Let's go out the window or something." She chewed on her lip and I stopped her before it bled.

"Can I fit out of your window?" I asked softly.

She turned and examined the glass, doubtfully. "Maybe…"

I smiled a sad smile before slinging the half-filled duffel bag over my shoulder and wrapping my arms around her shoulders protectively. "Can we get out before he sees us?"

We both listened intently for a second, I could hear scuffling sounds that were coming from the kitchen. "If we're quick we can make it." I told her.

She started biting her lip anxiously again, not looking at me. "Kim, I won't let him hurt you again." She turned back to me, and seeing my intense gaze, she nodded.

We walked out of the the doorway and started tiptoeing down the stairs. Kim was less graceful than me and the floorboards started creaking, she cringed against me and we waited silently for a few seconds, but Kim's dad didn't seem to have heard anything. I took the bag in my arms and she climbed on my back, fastening her arms and legs around me. I walked carefully, keeping my footsteps light. Once I reached the hallway I didn't look around, I kept on walking towards the door. It was unlocked and I swung it open. And walked determinedly towards Kim's car.

I threw the bag in the backseat first and then placed Kim in the passenger seat before walking to my own door. Once I had the car started I heard Kim make a strange noise, a funny little squeak. I glanced over at her; she seemed fine so I ignored it. I would ask her later.

But she started shaking before we had even got half way. I pulled the car over and reached over, pulling her into my arms comfortingly. I let her sob into my shirt for a while before asking her what was wrong. "He saw me leave, and he saw you. He could find out who you are and then-" I stopped her before she could carry on.

"Don't worry about me." I kissed her forehead. "He can't do anything to hurt me. And I will never let him hurt you."

Her sobs slowed so she was just shaking slowly. I stroked her hair softly. She hiccupped "is it strange that I hate him, but I still love him?"

I didn't want to answer her question. I didn't know if she was lying or not, but it sounded like she was telling the truth. How could she love someone who was so cruel to her?

I kept my arm round her shoulders during the journey to my house. I didn't want her to catch a cold, which would be last thing she needed. We were silent the whole time. I wanted desperately to talk to her, but I knew she wanted us both to stay quiet. And I had no idea how to start the conversation.

We walked inside with my arms wrapped around her shoulders and her arms around my waist. I couldn't be bothered to unlock the door and I almost kicked it off its hinges when I knocked and my mom didn't answer straight away.

I could hear her storming around inside before she opened it. Her face was furious when it finally came into view. "Jared, what the hell do you think you're doing? I-" she stopped speaking when she saw Kim's face. "What's wrong? Did everything go all right? What did Kim's dad say about her coming here?" She yelled at me in one breath.

She stopped blurting out questions when we walked past her and sat on the couch. She flitted in after us, bouncing on the balls of her feet randomly. I ignored her and concentrated on Kim. She looked ill. Like she had just witnessed something terrible. She shivered and I hugged her closer to my warm body until she started sweating. I looked up and realised my mom had left the room.

"What's wrong?" I wondered aloud. Kim swallowed her sobs before answering. "I- if, if he found out who you were, and he came looking for you, and me-" she stopped and almost choked on her tears, I wiped them away with my fingers and waited patiently for her to collect herself, "I don't… I don't want him to hurt you." I stopped her right then and wouldn't let her finish her sentence.

"He's not going to hurt me." The concept of him doing so would be laughable, if Kim wasn't so upset.

"But-" I held a finger to her lips to stop the next sentence from being said.

"The only way he could hurt me," I spoke gently, "would be if he hurt you. That would be more painful to me than anything else could ever possibly be. You are more important to me than my own life Kim, and I will never let anyone or anything hurt you."

She stared at me silently. "Oh."

I laughed at her incredulity and she blushed. We sat still for a while and watched the sky grow steadily darker. It was only when the sun had finished setting that I realised if I had led her outside to watch it, it would have been much more romantic. I laughed at myself as soon as I'd had that thought. This day could never have been romantic. I just wasn't that kind of guy. I sighed sadly and she heard me. She moved away from me and then laughed when I protested. She hugged her knees and started at me for a while. I narrowed my eyes at her, suspiciously. "What do you want?"

She giggled. "Tell me something." She demanded.

"What do want to know?" I spun round on the couch to face her more easily.

"Tell me some freaky werewolf stuff." She said like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"You know most of it already." I grinned at her obliviousness.

"What do you mean?" her eyebrows knit together.

"You should have paid more attention to the Quileute legends, there's more truth in them then you think."

She raised an eyebrow defiantly. "The Quileute legends? Do you mean we really are descended from wolves? Eww that's disgusting." She pulled a face.

I laughed, "and me turning into a wolf every time I get angry isn't?" I raised my eyebrows.

She frowned slightly, "that's different I guess. Anyway I want to know something else. You're really hot. Why's that."

"Well…" I started making my voice sound thoughtful "I guess the reason I'm really hot… is because I'm so good looking. And…" she smacked my arm and we laughed.

"Seriously, I want to know." And she leaned forward eagerly as if to demonstrate a point.

I smiled at her before talking "well I'm not too sure about why we're so hot. We're almost like the exact opposite of vampires, since they're so cold…" I stopped talking at stared at Kim. She had thrown her hands up in the air and her eyebrows had shot up her forehead.

"V… Vampires?" she stuttered.

"Erm… yeah. Did I not tell you about them?" I faked innocence.

"No… no you didn't."

"Well it's no big deal really." I started hastily. "The coven near here don't even come on to the reservation and they're not supposed to drink human blood, that's the only reason why we let them stay here…" I stopped again, Kim looked like she was in shock, and she wasn't even looking at me.

"Kim? Are you OK?"

Her head snapped up and she said sarcastically, "Oh, I'm just fine Jared. Thank you for asking. I mean I've just discovered that apparently there's a safe vampire coven living near me and I'm just fine. What do you mean they don't drink blood? Isn't that kind of the point?"

"No, they do drink blood, just not human blood. Animals."

"Oh." She looked complacent for a moment before asking, "Why aren't they allowed on the reservation then?"

"They could you know, slip up."

She nodded. "How many vampires are there?"

"In that coven? Seven."

"What about in the world?"

I frowned. That was one answer I didn't know the answer to. "I'm not sure."

"What about werewolves?"

I smiled. "Three." I couldn't help my voice from sounding proud.

She looking like she had been taken aback before she collected herself. "You're the only werewolves in the entire world?"

"We think so…"

We spent most of the entire night talking about werewolves and vampires and their strengths and weaknesses. Kim seemed only too eager to know everything she could about us. We then argued playfully when she claimed that she believed that a vampire would win in a fight against a werewolf.

"You're not as strong as you think you are." She teased.

"Oh really?"

I picked her up with one hand and threw her over my shoulder. She laughed and struggled for a while, whist I spun in a circle around the room and then collapsed back on the couch, both of us giggling.

We talked until she realised that we could already see the sun, just looming over the horizon. We sat outside and watched it. She curled up under my arm, and I was the most comfortable I had been in a while. When she fell asleep, I picked her up and laid her gently on the couch before lying next to her and falling asleep too.

**Yes, this chapter is disgustingly short and it would have been longer, but I'm going to london tomorrow (slightly excited!) and I have to set off at like 7:30 am, and it's getting late so I cant write anymore, sorry! And remember to vote on my poll!**

**And I've also realised Kim's dad doesn't have a name! If anybody can think of an interesting first name, leave it in a review! Leave a review anyway, though, click on the little purpleish, bluish button! And if I get a lot of reviews I will be really happy when I come back, and will type up the next chapter straight away! So get typing those reviews! Please?**


	13. Searching

**Thank you to everyone who wished me a nice time in London! It was great and everyone should go there. But it does take forever on a train. And I saw... Catherine Tate! Yep! Standing outside Pizza Express! Amazing! My little sister, who is a huge doctor who fan, freaked! And this chapter took me forever to write because I wrote about four pages and then switched the computer off, and then the next day I thought I had deleted it and started writing it again. Then when I had written about five pages I realised I had saved it, so I was a bit stupid! Anyway, I know no one wants to read the authors note so on with the chapter...**

I woke up keeping my eyes tight shut. I was still replaying the events of last night, thinking about Kim. That was the best nights sleep I'd ever had. And I could still feel Kim, safely tucked up in my arms. She shifted slightly. Only a tiny movement, but I still opened my eyes to check on her. She was awake, and peering up at me.

"Did I wake you?" she asked, seemingly anxious.

"No."

She smiled slowly, and relaxed in my arms. I started to pull her closer to me, and then I heard loud coughing coming from behind me. I froze, and rolled sideways off the couch and landed on my feet. Paul was grinning at me.

"Having fun?" he asked innocently.

I rolled my eyes, groaning. "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry I interrupted, well actually no I'm not I don't really want to watch you and Kim start-" he broke off when I picked up a cushion and hit him over the head with it. "Hey! What was that for?"

"For being here." And I hit him again, harder this time, and he fell backwards knocking his head on the wall before landing in a heap on the ground. I heard Kim giggle and I smiled, glad that there was at least two of us enjoying ourselves. I wanted to make her laugh again. Paul moved so he was on his knees and I hit him again before he could stand up. He collapsed onto the floor again. And I turned back to Kim, smiling. But I could tell she didn't find anything funny anymore. I glanced back down at Paul on the ground. He was quivering. He looked like he had everything under control, but I took a step back towards Kim, just in case. "Paul? You OK?"

"I'm fine." His words were distorted.

I moved even closer to Kim, crouching slightly.

Paul's shaking had slowed right down until he had stopped all together.

"Jeez Paul. Control yourself."

"That was your fault." He snapped. He turned to Kim, "sorry".

"It's fine." Her voice trembled, I sat next to her and pulled her into a one-armed hug, so I could glare at Paul over her head. I was going to make him pay for this.

"Did you want something?" I asked him, narrowing my eyes.

He looked down at his feet uncomfortably. "Erm… yeah, me and Sam have decided we're having a bonfire tomorrow, and if you want to, you both can come."

I was about to open my mouth to answer, but changed my mind and looked down at Kim instead. She met my gaze and smiled. I took that as a yes. "Sure, we'll see you guys there later."

Paul didn't take the hint. He grinned and sat down on the couch, reaching for the remote. I grabbed his hand before he could and growled slightly. Kim couldn't hear me, the noise was too low, but his eyes snapped up. He sighed and gave me a knowing glance before silently leaving my house.

"Where's he going?" Kim asked, her eyes on my face.

"Don't know, don't care."

Her eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't give him such a hard time. It's not his fault you should give him a break when you know how hard it is for him to control his temper."

I sighed and tried to change the subject. "So… you looking forward to the bonfire?"

She shrugged. "I guess… it's just a bonfire, right?"

"Ah." I said, trying to make my voice sound mysterious. "That's what you think."

She tried, and failed, to persuade me to tell her what was so amazing about the bonfire. No way was I going to tell her about the Quileute legends that Billy Black told. She already knew them, but there was something in the man's voice that made them come to life. He could make people visualise them so clearly it was like you were there in the story. Nobody ever grew tired of Billy Black's legends.

I flung her over my shoulder and carried her into the kitchen. "Hey!" she protested, but giggled despite herself.

I lowered her into her chair, "So… what do you want for breakfast?"

"Erm…" she screwed her face up and looked like she was thinking carefully. I laughed at the adorable expression on her face. "Toast?"

"Good choice." I said and turned to the toaster. No way was I going to tell her I'd never made anything in my life, toast included. How difficult could it be? I plugged the toaster in, that bit was easy and reached for the slices of bread. I dropped them in, and fiddled with the knob, turning it round, experimentally. I glanced back at Kim, she was smiling slightly. I pushed the toast down, and moved back to sit with Kim at the table. "What?" I asked, self-consciously. She was still grinning.

"Nothing." And she smiled sweetly, and completely forgot what I had asked.

"Um, Jared." She asked after a minute.

"Yeah?"

"I think the toast is burning."

"What?" I yelped, and jumped off the chair. I switched the toaster off at the main, and pulled the two black slices of toast out, waving the smoke that was coming off of them in waves, around the kitchen. I dropped them both onto a plate and stared at them, bemused. Then I became aware of a high-pitched squealing from behind me. I spun round and saw Kim, bent over, clutching her sides, laughing at me. "What's so funny?" I demanded, whist trying to keep a smile off my face.

"You can't make toast." She stated.

I narrowed my eyebrows. "Yeah. So?"

She laughed again. "What can you make?" she raised an eyebrow at me.

I had to think about that for a second. "Water." I said confidently. **(Yes, I did get this from the movie Zathura, which stars Kristen Stewart!)**

* * *

I was sitting on the floor watching the TV, while my mom and Kim sat behind me on the couch "bonding". Yeah, right. I could hear them talking about me and laughing. Kim at least was trying to hide her amusement at my mom's tales of me attempting to ride the neighbour's dog, and calling the police when the milk ran out. **(My friend's little sister tried to do this.)**

"You do realise I have super human hearing?" I snapped at them, throwing my mom a filthy look, and trying, and failing to do the same to Kim.

My mom laughed at the soft expression on my face. "Right. Sorry."

I smiled, thinking she was going to stop the embarrassing stories. Instead she carried on with them, just talking at a louder volume.

I groaned. "Mom, quit trying to tell Kim every single embarrassing thing I've ever done." My voice sounded whiney.

"Sorry." She laughed.

I glared out the window, when was she going to leave us alone?

_Ring ring… ring ring… ring ring!_

The piercing sound of the phone came from the kitchen. My mom jumped up to answer it, and I took advantage of the free seat on the couch. I flopped down on it, wrapping my arms round Kim. She moved so her head was on my chest and sighed happily. We were silent for a few moments, the only noise was my mom talking quietly in the kitchen.

"Jared, where am I supposed to go?"

The strange question took me by surprise. "What do you mean?"

She looked at me uncertainly. "Your mom doesn't want me here."

My mouth fell open in surprise. Where did she get that? "My mom loves you."

She started shaking her head, and I grabbed her chin to stop her. "I know. Your mom's great and everything, it's just I think she will be more comfortable if I leave."

I gaped at her. "My mom would like you to stay." My words were quiet, because I knew she was right.

She moved closer and pressed her lips to mine. I closed my eyes and pulled her closer. "I think it would be better if I left." She whispered. I shook my head defiantly; she broke away from me and tried to hold my head still. "Alright then," she moved away so she was kneeling on the ground in front of me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, reaching out to pull her back onto the couch. She avoided my hands and glared at me.

"What are we going to do about sleeping arrangements?"

"Oh." My reaching hands fell limply to my sides. "I see what you mean."

She nodded triumphantly.

"So what are you going to do? You're not going back home, and your not going somewhere far away. Or somewhere your dad can find you."

Her face fell slightly. I winced and pulled her closer to me, eager to wipe the heat-breaking expression off her face. I kissed her nose and she giggled. Better.

"I have an auntie I can stay with. I haven't seen her in a while; my dad wouldn't let me visit her. The only problem will be if she doesn't want me."

"She will." I said, my voice ringing with confidence. She grinned up at me and I reached down to pull her onto the couch. She fitted nicely in my arms and kissed my cheek gently. I buried my face in her hair and blew on the top of her head, making a loud squeaking noise. She jumped up and squirmed away, laughing. The tense atmosphere had immediately disappeared.

We waited a few moments for my mom to come back, and when she did there was a strange look on her face, like she didn't know whether to be happy or sad. "What's wrong?" I asked and her eyes flitted over to me.

"There's some good news. And some bad news."

"Can we have the good news first?"

"Sure." She nodded. "Well… the Cullen's have left."

I jumped up immediately. Ecstatic. The bloodsuckers had left. We were safe from them and so was the rest on the reservation. So why was my mom looking so sad? "What's the bad news?"

"Bella Swan was dating one of them."

"Yeah, I know."

"She's gone missing."

Angry growling was coming from somewhere. I couldn't work out where.

"Jared, calm down." My mom commanded.

Me. I was the guy who was growling. My arms were the only things twitching, I wasn't about to phase, no way would I put Kim in that danger. The bloodsuckers had taken Bella I knew it. She was going to be one of them, breaking the treaty ment war.

"Jared, she left a note. Charlie Swan thinks she's just got lost in the woods. She left a note."

I felt my arms shake again. It was a lie. It had to be. Why would they leave her here? I felt Kim's soothing hands on my face and I calmed instantly. Taking deep breaths I asked, "what am I supposed to do?"

"You, Sam and Paul are going to look for her." She said simply.

I nodded and turned to Kim. "See you later?" she nodded and streatched up on her toes to kiss me softly. She pulled away first and smiled "see you later". I stumbled out of the house slightly dazzled.

I ran into the forest before phasing and then ran the extra distance to where I could hear Sam and Paul walking. It would be easier to search for her this way.

We made our way, moving in synchronisation, not speaking to each other. The situation was too serious for us to crack jokes. We could only pray that the bloodsucker hadn't hurt her.

When we reached the woods we split up. It would be easy to let each other know when we had found her. We could hear some people already out looking for her, calling for her, but they were way off. Sam had already met her, and he couldn't smell her scent anywhere. We avoided the people seacrching, we didn't want them to panic when they saw us, and we moved deeper into the woods. Quickening the pace as it grew colder. It was no problem for us, but if Bella was still out here…

The search continued far longer then any of us would have liked. We could hear some of the humans giving up and starting to head back. Me and Paul were slowing down, we didn't see how she could have got this lost by herself. What was she doing out here?

_Maybe the bloodsucker abandonded her out here? _Paul suggested.

_Why would he do that? _I asked confused.

_Maybe he- _

Paul broke off when Sam interupted him. _Guys_ _focus_. And we did. Finding Bella was what we needed to concentrate on right now. After a few more minutes Sam caught her scent.

_I've_ _got_ _her_… and he phased back.

_Well_… Paul thought. _At_ _least_ _she's_ _alive_.

I rolled my eyes. _That's_ _always_ _a_ _bonus_…

We phased back and ran back towards the Swans house, letting the rest of the search party know that she had been found, that she was safe. Me and Paul waited silently, we didn't speak to the rest of the crowd, and the crowd was big. The whole of Forks must have been out looking for her.

The rest of the guys were talking loudly as we made our way back to the house, we didn't have to wait long for Sam to show up. He walked so quietly, not many people realised he was there. "I've got her." He called loudly and everyone's eyes immediately snapped over to him.

"Is she hurt?" a blond kid asked moving closer so he could look at her face.

"No, I don't think she's hurt. She just keeps saying 'He's gone.'" The kid's face fell slightly and he stared down at her.

"Bella, honey, are you alright?" her father's anxious call came from his house. He ran outside and the crowd parted to let him through. He struggled slightly to carry her inside. Sam opened the door for him, and kept close to catch her when Charlie's arms failed.

We left most of the crowd outside and listened to the doctor while he asked her questions. "Are you hurt, Bella?"

"I'm not hurt." She answered. The lie was obvious. She was hurt, just not physically. Me and Sam glanced at each other. How could she love that bloodsucker? How could she care that he was gone?

We left quickly after that. We didn't want to stay in such a sad place.

_So_... Paul thought as we ran back to La Push. _Is_ _the_ _bonfire_ _still_ _on_?

_Sure_. Sam's thoughts were happier now that Bella's was safe, and the bloodsuckers have left. _There's_ _no_ _reason_ _not_ _to_.

It didn't take us long to set up the bonfires. Sam and Paul already had the wood in place. I went back for Kim before joining Sam, Paul and Emily. "Where's Billy?" I asked while grabbing two coke's from the cooler Emily had brought.

"He'll be down here soon."

Me and Kim sat down next to each other. "Ugh. I'm boiling." She grumbled. The heat from the fire and from me must have been unbearable.

"Sorry." I mumbled. And I shifted away from her, hoping she would be able to cool down.

"Hey! What are you doing?" And she scooted back over to me.

"I thought you were too warm?"

"I am, but not unbearably so." She grabbed my hand and pulled my arm around her waist. "What happened with the vampires?"

I gazed down at her. "They've gone. Your more safe now then you've ever been before." And I smiled.

"Because of you." I started to shake my head and she stopped me with a kiss to my lips. I smiled and leaned down towards her...

"Eww." Paul yelled. Making his thoughts about me and Kim clear. I threw my empty can at him.

Our small group continued chatting happily, until we were interupted by squeaking wheels. We gazed round to find Billy Black wheeling himself slowly towards us. Sam stood up and pushed him the last hundred meters.

"What took you so long?"

"Charlie Swan called. And he's not so happy about these bonfires. Why's there so many anyway? What's wrong with just having one?"

"This" Paul told him, nodding wisely "is a double celebration."

"The Cullen's leaving... and what else?"

Paul grinned, "And Jared imprinting."

Billy glanced around and noticed Kim. He smiled happily and winked at me. I grinned back at him, and looked back down at Kim."Good for you, Jared. I'm Billy Black." He held out his hand for Kim and she stood up.

"Yeah, I know." She smiled. "I'm Kim." It amazed me how well she fit in here with us. She was perfect in every way.

"Will you tell Kim some of our legends?"

"I'm sure she already knows them." Billy's eyes twinkled the way they always did when he told a story.

"But you haven't told them to her."

Billy laughed and nodded. Kim sat down and leaned into me. I hugged her and we sat down to listen to the elder talk. I didn't pay much attention. I found watching her more interesting.

**Alrighty... you know the drill! The more reviews I get, the quicker I update! And seriously where is everyone? 31 people have this on their favourites, and I get 17 reviews? It makes me a little sad, I would love people's feedback, even if it's just a short review, an "I love it" or an "I hate it" I don't mind even though constructive critisism would be nice, just please review :) And please remember to vote on my poll!**


	14. Just A High School Crush?

**Thank you so much for reviewing last chapter! It makes me feel so loved! LOL, jk. And this chapter is dedicated to CharlotteM, for her helping me out with the story! I don't know where I would be without you!**

Kim fell asleep after Billy finished telling the legends. I loved watching her face as she reacted to the stories. Her expressions changed from incomprehension to wonder as she listened. I loved the blush that spread faintly across her cheeks whenever she caught me staring. When Paul tried to prove to Sam that he could swallow ten hot dogs whole, she laughed, but it was soon interrupted by a yawn. I could tell that she was spent. It didn't take long or her to doze off. I kissed the top of her head gently and pulled her across my lap so she would be more comfortable. I smiled down at her sleeping form, at my sleeping angel.

"Eww!" I heard Paul call at me from across the now barely-burning bonfire. I glanced up at him hardly registering the amusement in his eyes and then refocused my eyes back on Kim. She was still sleeping soundly. I was glad Paul hadn't woken her. I smiled again.

"Eww!" Came Paul's voice again. I sighed and looked away from Kim, reluctantly. Paul had a goofy grin on his face; he was pleased that he had managed to grab my attention.

"Something wrong?" I snapped.

Paul laughed. "Nope."

I frowned at him. And looked back down at Kim. She rolled over slightly, and I readjusted my arms so she would be more comfortable. Then I brushed a few strands of her hair back from her face. She sighed contentedly.

"Eww!"

My face snapped up immediately to glare at Paul. He was laughing and I looked at Sam who was sitting next to him. Sam was glaring too; he stealthily reached up a hand and smacked Paul round the side of his head. Paul choked and spluttered, before he started yelling about how we were all ganging up on him. "Paul, shut it." I hissed angrily. Kim stirred and mumbled something quietly. I watched her, but she slept on. I looked away from her for a moment so I could say, "I'm going to take her back home." I didn't wait for their reactions; instead I picked her up gently and carried her towards my house. I was walking slowly, and I knew it would take me a while to get there. But I didn't mind. Just being with her was like an alternate heaven.

I walked through the forest, not paying attention to where my feet were carrying me.

I arrived at my street, still not quickening my pace. I was revelling in my time alone with Kim. My house was at the far side of the street, but I slowed my pace anyway, delaying.

I became aware of a dark figure at the other end of the street, moving towards us. I hugged Kim closer to me, and focused my eyes on my house, trying to ignore the man moving closer. Yes, I could tell it was a man. The broad nose and square jaw proved it as did the strutting walk.

I crossed over the road. I couldn't explain it, not even to myself, but there was something about him I didn't trust, that I didn't like. It wasn't fear for my own safety that made me keen to avoid him; it was fear for Kim's.

I felt his eyes follow me across the road, and despite the warm night and my overheated body temperature, I shivered. I let myself in quickly and locked the door before I laid Kim on the couch. I lay next to her for a while wrapping my arms around her, making sure she was safe, before drifting into a deep sleep.

* * *

When I woke the following morning there was a strange feeling of emptiness that I couldn't understand until I realised what was missing. That night I had slept easily again, until a nightmare had started. That nightmare had woken me up. And I found that Kim wasn't safely in my arms where she belonged. I sat bolt upright, and took a quick glance around the room. Kim wasn't there.

My mom was in the kitchen, muttering to herself. I heard her say my name, and Kim's, but I didn't listen to hear what she was saying. I barged straight in, slamming the door against the wall, "Where's Kim?" I demanded.

My mom swung round to face me, her brow furrowed, "She's taking a shower. What's wrong?"

I breathed a sigh of relief before I answered her question, "Nothings wrong."

"Oh. It's just you seem a little freaked."

I smiled, "I didn't know where Kim was."

She grinned at me. "Aww. I love you two. You're both so sweet."

"Oh. Erm. Thanks?"

She laughed at my awkwardness. "You shouldn't be so embarrassed by this-"

"Kim doesn't embarrass me". I cut her off quickly.

She stared at me for a moment, her mouth hanging open. I didn't know how to respond, she looked like she was in shock or something. "Mom? Mom, are you OK?"

"Aww!" she sighed. "I love you, you're so protective it makes me want to cry."

I frowned slightly. "I'm not that protective."

"Yes, you are." She contradicted.

I was about to reply, when I heard footsteps on the staircase. Kim was coming back. Barely able to hide my excitement, I walked over to the hall and stood at the foot of the staircase, waiting for her.

She didn't see me at first concentrating instead on watching her feet so she didn't trip. I cleared my throat loudly, and she looked up. Her face broke into a huge smile, which I didn't deserve to be the cause of. She practically skipped down the stairs towards me and jumped, missing the last five steps, into my arms.

I laughed and she laughed too. "What are you so happy about?" I wondered.

"You're awake." She cried happily.

I grinned and set her on her feet. I ran my fingers through her wet hair; droplets fell noisily on the wooden floor behind her. I frowned unhappily. "You're going to catch a cold with wet hair."

She reached up a hand and tried to smooth out the creases on my forehead. She grinned, "You can warm me up."

I laughed and swung her easily into my arms carrying her through into the front room. I balanced her carefully on my lap, but she slid off to sit next to me. Pain shot through me for a second until she looked up at me and mouthed, 'your mom'.

"OK, kids, I'm going out, are you kids going to be OK?" without waiting for an answer, she said, "Good I'll see you two later."

I stared after her, stunned. I turned to Kim and raised an eyebrow.

She smiled, "I think she's just giving us some privacy."

I rolled my eyes, "She's not exactly subtle."

Kim laughed and jumped up so she was sitting on my knees again. She snuggled closer into my chest, and I pulled her closer to me. She sighed in contentment and I stroked her hair silently. We sat in perfect harmony for a while until she fell asleep. I chuckled softly into her hair, before laying her on the couch gently. I sat on the floor close to her so she wouldn't get cold.

I glanced around the room again, and then moved my gaze back to her. She looked so peaceful when she slept, like an angel. And that was what she was. An angel. She stirred slightly, and I readjusted the cushion under her head. And then I noticed a small pink book, lodged down the side of the couch. I reached over and snagged it. I didn't want Kim to hurt her head on it while she slept. I watched Kim for a few more minutes. Honestly, I could have watched her for hours. Just to be with her and keep her safe. Loving her, and her loving me back was more than I could ever ask for.

I glanced down at the book again. I didn't recognise it. I opened the first page and grinned. It was a diary, Kim's diary! And there I big, bold letters on the front page was written, I LOVE JARED. A snort erupted from my nose and I almost choked.

I heard a yawn from Kim; I'd woken her up. I mentally smacked myself for waking her up. She needed her sleep. Blinking and stretching, she looked round sleepily for me, and smiled when she saw me looking at her. I grinned at her slyly and slid the diary under the couch casually.

"What's up with you?" she asked, with a yawn.

I frowned slightly. "Are you still tired?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"A little."

"Then go back to sleep."

She nodded and looked at me expectantly, pouting slightly. I smiled and stood up so I could lie next to her. I held her until she fell asleep. When I heard her gentle breathing, I reached down and held the diary close to my face again. I suppressed a few laughs while I read it, and little sighs. She had liked me for a while. And I'd never even noticed her. I flicked few the pages, frowning whenever I read the words, 'I love Jared'. It seemed like the kind of thing a girl would write about her high school crush. Was that all I was to her?

**OK, please leave reviews! Any thoughts while reading this chapter? (Seriously any random thoughts? haha Charlotte!-sorry private joke) And if you haven't voted on my poll yet, please remember to do so!**

**This chapter would have been longer, but I'm going out to see The Dark Knight (anyone seen it? is it any good?) in a few minutes and for some reason I really wanted to post something today! I'll try and get the next chapter up soon!**


	15. Cliff Diving

**Hey all. Thank you for reviewing. I would like to dedicate this chapter to again to CharlotteM, because I didn't use her ideas last chapter, but I will in this one, and also to Momentarily Infinite because your review, for some reason, made me laugh! And I'm guessing you people now know how to get a chapter dedicated to you! Just leave a funny review, but be careful, I have a weird sense of humour!**

I stared at the pages of the diary in incomprehension. We didn't like each other the same way. I was sure of it. Then again, maybe I didn't deserve her. Or had her feelings towards me changed since she wrote the words in the diary. I started as the diary was snatched away from me. And I looked round to see who had stolen it. Kim was glaring at me and holding it close against her chest. Strange, I hadn't even heard her wake up.

"You read my diary." She hissed from between gritted teeth.

"Yeah." I replied. Not the best answer. I knew. But I couldn't think of anything else to say.

She gasped and her eyes widened at my blunt honesty. "What? You don't even have anything to say for yourself?"

"Sorry." It sounded like a question. Her eyes widened even further. And she dropped the diary to the floor. It landed with a loud clatter and fell open at a page. The page had my name written in bubble writing and little pink hearts outlining it. Kim squeaked and hurried to close the diary again.

She placed the book in her lap, and let her hair fall forward, covering both her face and the diary. I sighed and reached out a hand and pushed her face upwards. She was blushing bright red, and refusing to give me eye contact. "Kim." I sighed her name again. "Kim. I am really sorry." I apologised sincerely.

She peeked upwards at me. "What did you read it for?" she mumbled.

I forced a smile. "I was curious. I wanted to know what you really think of me."

She blushed again and smiled. Then reached out to touch my lips with her fingertips. "What's wrong?" she wondered, the smile sliding off her face.

"Nothing." I lied, forcing my smile wider.

"Then why aren't you smiling?"

"I am smiling."

"No you're not." She snapped, looking angry.

I sighed and reached out to take the diary off her lap. She didn't react, she just looked curious. I flicked through the pages until I found the words 'I love Jared' scrawled messily across the page. "This looks like something you would write about a high school crush." I told her. "Someone you liked. But not someone you really loved."

She was staring at the page; an expression close to horror was on her face.

"Kim?" I asked weakly.

Then her eyes snapped up to look at me. And a smile spread across her face. "You think I only have a crush on you." She giggled.

"Well you must do." I defended. "Or you wouldn't write stuff like this in your diary."

She grinned again, before throwing herself at me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed, so hard she was almost choking me. I hugged her back without hesitation. "You are so funny." She said happily.

"What?"

"You thought I didn't love you." She laughed and kissed me softly on the lips. I smiled and pulled away slowly.

"So why did you write that stuff?"

She sighed. "Well… maybe I did have a crush on you before you imprinted on me."

"Really?" I grinned.

She laughed at my eagerness and nodded. "Yup."

I grinned and kissed her again. She really did love me, and that made me happier then anything else possibly could. But we were interrupted by a knock at the door. She started to pull away, but I countered her movements. "Ignore it." I whispered against her lips, pushing her back further into the couch.

She laughed. "Jared-" but I cut her off with another kiss. The banging at the door got louder. And I could hear shouting from outside. "Paul." I hissed.

I stood, grabbed Kim's hand and walked over to the door. Paul was standing outside, banging his fists on the door. Whilst yelling really random stuff. He was shouting something about cliffs, and then something about diving.

I groaned and opened it. Paul stood there grinning, apparently pleased with himself. "What are you so happy about?" I snapped.

"Oh. Nothing." He said, attempting to put an innocent expression on his face. It didn't work. "I didn't interupt anything,did I?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Kim giggled. "And what do you find so funny?" Paul turned to her and tried to pull off a dignified expression, and this time it was my turn to laugh. "Seriously, what are you laughing at?"

I looked up, back at Paul. He looked bewildered, and I could tell it was genuine, that only made me laugh harder. "Nothing." I managed to choke out between laughs. Paul eyebrows narrowed, and I laughed again.

"Well, are you coming?" Paul asked.

"Coming where?"

"Cliff diving." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. And then I remembered what I had agreed to a few weeks ago. Cliff diving at weekends.

"Erm. Sorry I think I'll stay behind." I said pleasantly.

Paul scowled at me. "You said you'd come. It's not nice to dump your friends for your girlfriend."

I glanced down at Kim. She was grinning up at me. "You can go if you want to." She happily said.

"But I don't want to."

"You'll have fun."

"I won't without you there." I contradicted.

Paul sighed impatiently. "Sam's coming." He said it like it solved everything.

"So?" I snapped.

He scowled at me again and folded his arms. "He _somehow_ manages to have fun without Emily there."

I frowned slightly, thinking about Kim being left alone in the house.

"I'll be fine." She said, somehow managing to read my mind. "You should go have fun with your friends."

"Thank you." I whispered. And I bent down to kiss her. A trumpeting noise came from the doorway. But I ignored it, it didn't seem important. I concentrated on Kim's lips moving with mine.

A second later somebody grabbed my shirt and pulled me back and out of the door. I turned and hit Paul's hands away. "What was that for?" I yelled.

"You were never going to get out by yourself. I decided to help you." He snapped.

"Kim had already said I could come." I argued and I tried to walk back to Kim. She was laughing and holding on to the doorframe to stop her from falling over, but Paul grabbed hold of my shirt again and dragged me further towards his car.

"Man." He sighed. "You are so whipped."

I shrugged and laughed when I met his eyes. He looked appalled.

I turned round and waved at Kim, she waved back, a look in her eyes, a loving look in her eyes. I smiled and tried to walk back to her. I could feel some unknown force pulling me towards her, like gravity. Paul's hold tightened, "You really need to go cliff diving." He sighed.

I climbed in the car and felt sad because I was leaving Kim behind. Even though I knew that Kim wouldn't want to come cliff diving with me, I felt sad that she was been left on her own, more than sad, afraid. Maybe I should have waited until my mom was home. I turned round in my seat when the car set off, desperate to keep Kim in my sight. Paul drove fast, and we had rounded the corner in a matter of seconds. I groaned slightly and Paul turned in his seat to stare at me. "Does imprinting really do that to you?" he sounded amazed.

"What has imprinting done to me?" I frowned.

"Well, you can't do anything now without thinking about her. Doesn't it annoy you?"

"No." I felt my eyes widen in amazement. "Why would it bother me?"

"Well it would annoy me. Not being able to do anything without her in your head." He complained defiantly.

"No it wouldn't." I sighed. "You wait until you imprint."

"What makes you think I will?"

"I have a feeling."

"Right. Right." He rolled his eyes. "Well I hope I never do."

"Right. Right." I copied him. "You wait." I realised then that we were nearly there. It surprised me how fast Paul had been driving. "Man you drive fast." I voiced my opinion out loud.

He grinned. "Does my driving scare you? Are you going to run home to Kim and tell her how horrible I was to you?"

I snarled quietly and he laughed. I hit his arm quickly. "Hey." He snapped, but I was out of the car before he could retaliate. Sam was standing with a few kids from the reservation and I walked over to them. They were dressed in sweats and T-shirts and a few of them had towels under their arms.

"Hey Sam." I called. He looked up and waved. "Are these kids diving too?"

"Yep." He grinned. "They're going to dive from the rock halfway down."

"Nobody dives from the top." One kid said. He was about six three, and almost as tall as me.

I raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"

"It's suicide." He explained.

Sam grinned at me and walked over. "That's Jacob Black." He said too quiet for any of the kids to hear.

"Billy's kid?" Paul asked, he had come to stand next to me.

"Yep." Sam frowned. "He's getting tall."

Paul laughed. "But the bloodsuckers have left. How can he be like us?"

Sam sighed. "Some things are already set in motion."

I looked over at the group of five boys; they were starting to make their way down to the rock that jutted out halfway down the cliff. "Shall I show them how it's done?" Paul offered.

"Me first." I called.

"I thought you didn't want to come cliff diving today?" Paul raised his eyebrows at me.

"I didn't." I grinned. "But the sooner I make the dive, the sooner I get to go back to Kim."

Paul groaned. And he turned round before I could and ran to the edge of the cliff. He stood at the edge, peering over, before he launched himself into space. I sighed and looked away.

"I'm next." I started to turn back towards the cliff top, but Sam beat me to it. He flung himself off, laughing.

I groaned. Great. Last again. I took a few steps backwards and ran over to the edge. I didn't stop when I reached the edge; instead I threw myself into the open air. I wheeled and twisted on my way down, enjoying the complete freedom of the experience. Then, when I saw the water coming up to meet me, I pulled my arms upwards over my head, and braced myself for the impact. It was easy. And the whole exhilarating feeling was over as soon as it began.

The three of us hung about in the ocean, but we swam back the beach when Paul nearly phased when Sam pretended to try and drown him.

"Paul, I want to go back now." I told him.

"Go then. I'm not stopping you." He laughed.

"Paul give me your keys." I snapped.

He laughed. "Yeah right."

"Paul, it'll take me longer to run."

He yawned.

"Paul-" I was starting to get angry.

"Alright, alright. I'll give you a ride. Jeez, some people have no sense of humour."

I glared at him, but didn't reply.

* * *

The ride how took longer then the ride there. I had a feeling Paul was doing it on purpose to annoy me, but every time that I voiced my opinion, he looked at me like I was crazy.

I jumped out before the car had even stopped, and ran to the front door. My mom's car wasn't parked outside. I opened the door and called, "Kim?" I waited a moment for an answer, but she didn't call back. "Kim?" I called again, but again there was no reply. I walked through the hall and into the kitchen. A note was lying on the table. And I recognised Kim's handwriting.

_Jared._

_I've gone home to pick up some stuff._

_Don't worry; my dad will be at work._

_Love you, Kim._

I stared at the note in dismay. Don't worry? How could she expect me not to worry? I stuffed the note into my pocket and ran back outside. Paul was still parked up and was messing about with his radio. I flung myself into the passenger seat.

"Hey, Jared, how do you change the station to-"

"Paul, I need you to drive me to Kim's place."

"Sure, just as soon as I-"

"PAUL NOW."

He looked up at me. Suddenly seeming to register the terror in my voice. He nodded and started the engine.

"Can I ask why we're going to Kim's place? I thought she was staying with you."

"She was." My hands were shaking and I pressed them into my temples to try and stop them. "She went back to get some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"I don't know. Clothes. Pictures. Socks. Who cares?" I raised my voice unintentionally.

"Why would she go back?" he wondered out loud, while I felt the car speed up in his haste.

"She said her dad wasn't going to be in."

"Oh." And I heard Paul calm down immediately. He thought I was overreacting.

"Paul, hurry up. She's not going to be OK."

"How do you know?"

"BECAUSE I CAN FEEL IT."

Paul looked at me for a second. And he seemed to believe me. And I was telling the truth. I did know that Kim wasn't going to be OK. We arrived at Kim's street in record timing. Kim's car was parked out front, and another black car was reversing out of the drive. I didn't recognise the car, but I did recognise the driver. I had seen Kim's dad last night. And he had seen me. And he'd seen Kim.

**Yeah, yeah. I know it's a horrible place to end it, but there you go! I had to end it here anyway, because I'm going to the doctors in a few minutes. Alright, I would like 30 reviews before I update again, please? It will make me feel better, because I'm ill, hence the doctors appointment! And please remember to vote on my poll!**


	16. Car Thief

The black car drove away, way over the speed limit. And I threw myself at the car door, forgetting in my haste to unlock it. I fought with the lock, until I could open the door, and I flung it open. I ran towards the house, but now that door was locked. I could hear Paul running up behind me. "It's locked." I hissed.

Paul swore quietly and looked round, "There has to be a spare key somewhere. Check under the doormat or something."

I ignored him and stepped back, away from the door. Then my leg snapped upwards, and I kicked it so hard the windows rattled. "What are you doing?" Paul demanded. I could hear the disbelief in his voice.

"I'm going to kick the door down." I said simply. "Are you going to help me?" without waiting for his answer, I kicked again, and the door was flung off it's hinges.

I stormed into the house, with Paul right on my heels.

"Kim?" he whispered so quietly even I had trouble hearing him.

I turned to glare at him. "What, is she supposed to hear you?"

He shrugged, "Sorry." I turned away and ran up the stairs. "Where are you going?" he followed me.

I ran into Kim's room and saw her curled up in the corner. Her thin arms were hugging her knees; her hair looked limp and was covering her face, like she was sheltering herself from the world. She looked like despair. The very epitome of despair, it seemed like her skin had paled with distress. Paul started across the room, but she cringed back into the wall when she heard him coming. I placed my hand out to stop him, and he faltered. I moved even slower than he had, making no noise on the hard floor. "Kim." I breathed her name in a sigh, an acknowledgement that I had found her, and that I would never let her go. She looked up immediately and met my gaze, but I made no move towards her. Then she reached out towards me, an invitation, and I crossed the room in one bound.

I enveloped her small frame, not caring about anything but her. She didn't seem too badly hurt, but it didn't make me feel any better. She cried quietly, from the shock or the pain, I didn't know, and I felt like crying too, but I didn't let myself. I picked her up, carefully; she buried her face in my neck, and breathed in deeply. Paul held the door open for me, and didn't make any smart comments.

I put her in the passenger seat and fastened her seat belt. I was getting a strange sense of deja vu. She smiled slightly, trying to reassure me. It didn't work. I climbed in the car and started it, I could see Paul staring at the door, he looked like he was trying to work out a way to fix it, he didn't want to leave any sign that we had been here. I made a mental note to thank him before starting down the street.

"Hey!" Paul's angry shout followed me as I left him behind.

I drove the car faster until we were out of the reservation. I didn't know where I was going, I was heading nowhere in particular, and I just wanted to leave. "Where are we going?" Kim's voice was timid. But I ignored her. "Jared, stop the car." She demanded, and I pulled up by the side of the road. "Jared, what are you going to do?" she wondered, and I could hear faint panic in her voice.

"I don't know." I bit my lip, frowning.

She sighed. "I'm sorry."

I swivelled in my seat to stare at her, "What for?"

"You're angry with me."

I paused for a moment in shock, and then reached out and pulled her into my lap. "Why would I be angry with you?"

She shrugged and buried her head in the crock of my neck. I buried my face in her hair, and she sighed, "I'm still sorry."

I sighed. She was stubborn. And now she was blaming herself. She pulled away and examined my face.

"What?"

"Why were you heading out here?"

"Erm… not sure. I guess I didn't really have a plan." I smiled slightly. There were still marks left by tears on her face. I wiped them off with my thumb.

"You're wet." She told me, pouting slightly.

I grinned. I hadn't changed, and my shirt was damp. "I'm drying."

"Slowly." She smiled and ran her fingers through my hair, with droplets falling onto my face.

"Not too slowly. I am running a temperature." She sighed and tried to shake all the water free from my hair. "It's fine," I promised her, "stop worrying about me."

She frowned. "Well… someone has to."

I sniggered and caught her wrists, and then kissed her gently on her forehead. She sighed and pulled away again. "What did you bring me here for?"

"I… wasn't paying any attention to where I was going. I just wanted to get away. Just grab you and run." I looked at her carefully, she didn't look happy. "Kim-"

"You wanted to run where?"

"Anywhere. I just wanted-"

"You're not going anywhere." She snapped.

I stared. "I just-"

"No, no." she cut me off. "We aren't leaving. Who cares about my dad? No way am I going to let you take me to some-"

"Kim, I'm not going anywhere. I just freaked out for a minute."

"Oh. "

"And I think we should go back to La Push. Paul will want his car back."

She nodded, "Yeah he-" she looked round and realised where she was, "Why have you stolen Paul's car?"

I laughed. It was amazing how she could always make me laugh, even after the most serious situation. "I didn't. I borrowed it."

She laughed and I placed her in her seat again. I made sure she buckled herself in, and then swung the car around. The journey back was quiet, with Kim making me laugh, despite my desperate attempts to keep a straight face.

I parked outside my house, and could see Paul peering through the windows, he didn't look happy. Me, and Kim walked to the door, but it opened before we could reach it. Paul stood, looking like he was in pain.

"Something wrong?" I asked innocently.

He glared at me and then at Kim. I pulled her into my side instinctively. Paul noticed the change in my posture and he rolled his eyes. "You stole my car." He accused.

My eyes widened in response. "Did not."

"Did too."

"Alright fine." I didn't have the energy to argue. "But I brought it back." I tossed his keys to him.

He scowled and then turned to Kim. "You OK?"

"I'm fine." I could hear the anxiety in her voice. She knew we didn't believe her.

Paul nodded and glanced at me. "Well, anyhoo… the police are coming. And-"

"What?" Kim's horrified shriek rang through the air.

"Yeah…" Paul suddenly sounded uncomfortable. "Well I decided to ring them and now-"

"No." She yelled. "What did you do that for?"

He sighed and looked at her pityingly. "Because he is such a poor excuse for a father I just want to-"

"You called them?" her voice sounded weak. "What's going to happen to me now? I have nowhere to go. I'm going to-" She stopped talking when Paul snorted. "What are you laughing at?"

"What do you think Jared's going to do? Make you live on the streets?" he rolled his eyes.

She shrugged. "I don't think Jared's mom will be comfortable with me living in the same house as Jared. She can barely be in the same room as the two of us."

"Well I don't blame her. I can barely be in the same room as you two. Seriously, I have to sit there with you guys making weird faces at each other, and then Sam and Emily making weird faces at each other, and it is so annoying."

"Weird faces?"

"Yeah. The faces you guys make are worse then soppy drippy looks some couples make at each other. It's like you're having a silent conversation, and it is depressing."

I didn't smile, even though Kim did find it funny. "When are the police getting here?"

He shrugged. "When they finish solving all the crimes and everything."

"And what are we going to tell them?"

"Erm… how about the truth? Anyway, it's not my problem."

"Not your problem?" I snapped. "You called them."

"You would have done it anyway." He snapped right back. "So I think I did you a favour." He smiled and looked pleased with himself.

Kim sighed. "You have to talk to them." She told Paul.

"Why me?"

"Because you called them."

He started mumbling under his breath and I stalked past him, pushing Kim in front of me.

I heard the sirens from a long way off; Kim didn't hear them until they were almost at the reservation. I wondered, briefly, about who would be coming, which police officers would arrive. There was two of them, neither of them was the chief, just his deputy and another officer. I left Paul outside to talk to them, I didn't want to help him, and it seemed more prudent to leave him on his own, the two men were now saying a load of legal jargon that I didn't understand, I hoped Paul could.

They wanted to talk to Kim, and when I wouldn't leave her they asked, "Are you her boyfriend?" I told them I was and they glanced at each other with a look on their faces that made me want to wipe it right off. They talked to Kim for a while and seemed happy with what she had to say, and they left.

"Now what?" she asked me. She looked at my face like I had all the answers.

I shrugged. "I guess we just… wait."

She sighed and seemed to deliberate for a while then she quickly moved to kiss me, after barely a second Paul interrupted us… again.

"What do you want?"

He scowled at me, but chose to ignore my question. "Where is Kim going to stay?"

"We can decide later."

Kim turned to me, frowning. "I think we should decide now."

"But-"

"Shh." She put her fingers to my lips to stop me. "I think I should go visit my aunt."

"But-"

She cut me off again, "You can stay in the car out side if you're that worried, and can come storming in at any moment." I paused. That sounded a little more reasonable. She smiled, knowing I was wavering. "Paul can come too, and then if I get into trouble you can have back up." She was grinning widely. She knew she wasn't going to get hurt.

"Fine. But this will only be a short visit. Right?"

"Sure." She grinned at me. It was obvious that she was lying. And she knew that I could tell what she was planning. A really long visit, they had lots of catching up to do. Great…

**I'm sorry for the really late update. I didn't exactly have writers block, but I couldn't write. It wasn't writers block because I knew what I wanted to write, but I couldn't do it for some reason, anybody have a name for it? Before I put this chapter on here when I typed in those words in that box that says "Are you human?" one of the words was Whitlock! And it made me really happy because I started squealing to myself about how much I love Jasper! And… I have no idea why it made me as happy as it did! Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to Weasleygrlz07. Who I think I've dedicated a chapter to before, but I don't care! That review was the funniest thing ever! Other people might not think so… most people don't understand my sense of humour! And to all you people who review… I love you! Reviews make me smile.**


	17. Revisiting

**Alrighty, I know some people are wondering why Kim is going to live with her auntie. She is living there because in Breaking Dawn it says Kim and Jared aren't living together! So anyway thanks for your reviews. Didn't get so many… I'm guessing that it was because it was a short and quite a bad chapter, and I didn't threaten to not update! Anyhoo… I'm not going to hold it against you guys, because I love you all really! This chapter is dedicated to starrywolf274, because your description of Jared was brilliant!**

Me, and Paul dropped her off and her aunt's house and sat in Kim's car outside. I'd tried to follow her in, but she had laughed and pushed me back towards the car. She explained that she was fine, that I was worrying about nothing and I should wait for her in the car. Following her anyway would have made more sense, but Paul reassured me that we would be able to hear everything going on inside the house. I complained still, but knew he was right.

Paul had tried making conversation, but about what I wasn't sure. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, my hand twitching on the door, ready to throw myself out of it at any moment, whist he was sprawled out in the drivers seat looking perfectly at ease. I wondered briefly how he could be so relaxed, but then immediately moved back to staring nervously at the house.

"Jared, man, you need to learn how to relax." I glared at him and he yawned, not looking at me. "Seriously, stop twitching. You're giving me a headache."

I turned away from the house and tried to control the jittering in my legs. I couldn't stop it though. It was like it was ingrained in my system. "Damn it." I muttered.

Paul looked at me like I was crazy. "What's wrong now?"

"Nothing." I snapped. "I am perfectly fine. I'm not being driven insane because I can't see her, I'm not about to tear my hair out at the thought of loosing her and I'm definitely, defiantly not about to throw myself out of this car and through that front door in a second." I vented angrily, while Paul stared at me.

"Man, you really need to get out more." He laughed and then sighed.

"What's up?"

"Nothing. Just glad I haven't imprinted." He grinned, "Seems like you go crazy when you do."

"Thanks." I replied sourly.

He grinned at me again, "No problem. Just letting you know how things are."

I laughed quietly. "You wait." I muttered. "If you ever imprint I will make fun of you every single day for the rest of your life. There will be no embarrassing memory that she will not know about."

He grinned. "You are such a good friend."

I laughed, "I know." And then I returned to waiting in silence. I heard Paul sigh after a few minutes and realised I had started twitching again.

Kim didn't stay long, she practically ran out of the door. I climbed out and pushed Paul in the backseat, so I could drive.

I didn't get a chance to talk to her. Paul kept chattering about a football match, and I kept my eyes on the road, mostly. I didn't drive as fast as Paul; so it didn't take him long to start complaining about the speed. He started making clicking noises with his tongue and then his foot started kicking my chair. I nearly turned around and ripped his head off.

I dropped him off outside his house and drove back, even slower than before and I didn't speak until I had parked the car outside the house. She was watching me quietly, smiling. "What?"

"I love you." She whispered.

I smiled back at her. "I know."

* * *

We sat talking to the two police officers for hours. They didn't treat us like children, which we were thankful for and told us the details straight. They told us everything. Everything we did and didn't need to know. But one thing did make us happier. They had found him. She was safe. And that was all I needed. They left my house after giving us details about the court case, and we were reassured that everything was going to be all right.

Closing the door after them, I turned to Kim. She wasn't looking at me. Instead her gaze was directed to the ground. She didn't see me walk up behind her. She didn't see me until I pulled her up into my arms. I carried her, bridal style, outside, and placed her in the passenger seat. She didn't say a word. She just watched me. I drove us to the beach and parked near to a familiar wooden bench. She giggled when I helped her out and pulled her to the bench. "This looks familiar." She laughed. "This is where you first told me that you loved me."

I smiled at the memory. "Yeah I remember. This is where you ran away from me."

She shrugged. "Well, excuse me! I thought you were crazy. And then I figured you were making fun of me."

"Sorry." I kissed the top of her head. Glancing away from her for a moment, I saw the sun was setting. "Why does the sun set?" I whispered softly.

Kim moved under my arm. "Sorry?"

"Every day ends. And I don't want it to. I want to stay with you forever, Kim. And now the sun is setting. This day has been almost perfect. And I am so happy right now because I am with you, but now this day is ending." I sounded sad and Kim moved to look at me.

"You can't stop the sun from setting." Confusion coloured her tone.

"I know. And I don't want to. I just want to stay with you forever."

She smiled and looked upwards, at the sky. The sky had been painted a marvel of many colours. Blue, indigo and purple was turning into red and orange, another reminder to the end of the day, and a reminder that we would be apart soon.

"Kim." I sighed softly. "I love you."

She twisted in my arms and pulled herself closer to me. "I know." She mimicked my words from earlier and I laughed softly into her hair.

"Kim." I sighed again.

Slowly and carefully, I stood and taking her with me, I walked. I walked further down the beach, with my arm firmly around Kim's waist. She didn't wonder where we were going. And if she did she didn't ask. There was just silence. Apart from the rush of the waves across the sand, the only noise was our breathing, and our two beating heats. I stopped when we reached the edge of the waves. We stood still, facing each other, neither of us speaking, until my voice broke the deafening, perfect silence.

"Kim." I started and she just watched me with an incredulous expression on her face,her eyes sparkling, and her hair waving in the wind.

"Marry me."

**Another tiny chapter, I'm sorry! Please review, I am working on the next chapter, so you guys won't have to wait as long for it! reviews will make me write quicker though -winkwink- and school started on Wednesday, and I have the same maths teacher, eek! And then all my teachers were like, "you're starting your GCSE's, and they're really important, and you're so going to die if you don't do well in them" and it's scary. My GCSE's aren't for two years. Damn, them. And I was wondering if anyone could tell me how long summer holidays are in the US. It's got nothing to do with anything, I was just wondering! Thank you, and please review! **


	18. Epilogue

"Ah." I sighed happily at the sight of what was coming through the door. Kim was walking hugging her stomach, with a huge smile on her face. Her dark hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and her normally baggy T-shirt was tighter now over her belly. She hitched the bag she was carrying higher up her shoulder, and I ran to grab it for her.

"Jared, I can carry my purse perfectly fine by myself. You don't need to do everything for me." she chastised playfully.

"But I want to do everything for you." I told her stubbornly.

She giggled and sat on the couch, pushed up against the wall of our new home. I slid a cardboard box away with my foot, so I could sit next to her and put my arms around her waist.

"I'm huge." She grumbled.

Laughing, I kissed her on the cheek and then her belly. "No you're not. Yet." I teased.

The corners of her mouth pulled upwards slightly. "Thanks."

"Welcome."

And so we sat there for a moment, just together, until she burst out randomly. "Names!"

I blinked, "Sorry?"

"What should we call him?"

"Hmm…" I thought for a moment. "It could be a girl."

"It's not." She said confidently. "It's a boy."

"Huh. And how do you know?"

Whilst grinning she said, "I'm his mom. I think you'll find that I can tell if it's a boy or a girl."

I laughed, "Alright then. And what do you propose we call this guy?"

"Don't know." She shrugged. "All boy's names suck."

"Ouch."

She laughed, "Kidding."

"What about girls names?" I grinned, "Any you particularly like?"

Kim frowned, I reached over to smooth out the lines on her forehead with my finger while she thought. "How about… Rachel?" I paused for a second turning over the name in my head. Kim stretched out a hand to stroke my forehead, "Now you're frowning." She giggled.

"Sorry. It's just…" I paused; she pulled her hand away to peer at me worriedly. "How about Lucy?"

"No." She replied so quickly it was almost automatic. "It's too confusing. People won't know whether to spell it with a 'y' or an 'ie'."

"Oh." I stuttered. I had really liked that name.

"What about Amy?" She suggested.

"What about Madeline?"

"Katie?"

"Charlotte?"

"Nicole?"

"Heather?"

"Hayley?"

I laughed. Now we were arguing over baby names. Lucie or Lucy. Was there such a big difference? She smiled back at me. She was wearing an old shirt and sweats and her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She nonchalantly twisted the ring on her finger smiling.

"I still think it's going to be a boy." She sounded so confident it was impossible to doubt her, but I played along anyway.

"Wanna bet on it?"

"Sure," she laughed. "How much?"

I grinned, "no prize."

She smiled and reached over to me. Pulling me closer to her. "I love you," she whispered. I took her hands and kissed them gently, revelling in my happiness. "Love you too." And I kissed her lips softly and then bent my head to kiss her belly. I couldn't help wondering. Thinking about everything that we had been through together. And everything we would go through together. She'd had her fair share of depression. She'd had moments of grief and hopelessness. However, now her face shone with the most genuine smile, and my whole life was lit up by her happiness. My love, and my life, was perfect.

**Alrighty, I wasn't sure how to end it and this seemed like the right thing to do. And it's the last chapter -cries- I've finished it! I am so proud of myself, seriously I am! I was actually really surprised that people actually wanted to read it! I had never let anybody read anything I have written before, and you guys who reviewed or added this to their alerts and their favourites made me so happy! And 10 week long holidays in the US? Seriously? We get six in England! I'm so jealous! So please review and tell me how you liked the chapter, and the whole thing! And l had an idea about five minutes ago, and I am going to write a story about Carlisle and Esme! This chapter is dedicated to The Library Leisure Area Guys! Please review, thanks! :)**


End file.
